A Life of Ramen
by Razamataz22
Summary: Deep within Konoha there is a lawless zone, within that lawless zone there is a Ramen Bar, within that Ramen Bar there is a young blonde chef, within that young blonde chef lies a past of carnage and bloodshed. NaruXHinaxTenxSakuxKin
1. Dark Side of Konoha

**This idea hit me earlier and I reckon it's been done before but I'm putting my spin on it, hopefully its okay.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

"You want a C rank mission?" asked Sarutobi as he sat at his desk, Iruka by his side. Standing in front of him were the members of Kakashi's team, the only team Kakashi had ever allowed to pass. With the amount of talent within the squad it was little surprise. They had the last Uchiha, a man whose name alone made him one of the most famous genin to ever come out of the academy. Then there had been Sakura, the girl whose smarts had gotten her through the academy without much hassle. However she seemed to be lacking in the practicality department at the moment but the third was certain that that would eventually change. Then there was Kiba Inuzuka who was proud, boastful and the dead last of the academy. Yet according to Kakashi's report it had been due to his belief in teamwork that the team had been able to pass. A unique squad if there ever was one.

"Unacceptable, you guys are still fresh out of the academy and have only been in the field for two months," said Iruka as he got to his feet.

"How is weeding a garden and catching a cat 'in the field?'" asked Kiba, Akamaru ever faithful giving a yip of approval.

"They help build the fundamentals that a team needs to survive in larger scale missions," explained Iruka lightly slapping his forehead. "Honestly Kiba you think you would have realised this by now."

"Be that as it may, your team has done exceptionally well," said Sarutobi looking over some documents.

"Are you contemplating giving them a 'C' rank?" asked Iruka bewildered.

"Remember who wears the hat in this building," chuckled the third Hokage. "There are a couple of people who wish to travel to Wave in two days, one of whom is going to need protection while he builds a bridge. If we team you up with another rookie squad so that there are two clients for two squads there will be more than enough people. I'm sure that will be satisfactory and a good experience for the new genin."

"I guess that works," admitted Iruka rubbing the back of his nervously. "I'll let Kurenai's team know that they'll need to get ready for a 'C' rank mission which by the looks of this may last up to two weeks."

"Hear that boy, we're going up in the world," said Kiba grinning broadly as Sakura pumped her fist in success despite having not done anything herself.

"Who's the second person we're escorting?" asked Sasuke, realising that that information hadn't been told as of yet. The team became confused however as a solemn look passed over Sarutobi's face, a look that wasn't like anything they had seen before.

...

"_He's a prodigy if there ever was one, he's almost like a miniature Kakashi," exclaimed Hiashi Hyūga, not one to usually give praise._

"_Still, the villagers still see him as nothing more than the creature he contains," said Sarutobi in a sad tone._

"_Well the Jōnin exams are coming up in two weeks, you'd almost think he would be a shoe in for that," said Hiashi taking a sip of the tea within his hand._

"_He's not a boy to chase titles, I'm sure you know that," said Sarutobi. "All he is after is recognition, something he believes he will get once he becomes the Hokage." Hiashi was about to open his mouth to respond when the door to the office opened. Turning to see who it was, the two elder men were surprised to find the person they were talking about standing there, a grim expression on his face._

"_I'm surprised you're back so soon, the mission should have lasted another four days at least," exclaimed the third Hokage. The next words that were spoken however were shocking enough to force Hiashi to drop the cup he was holding._

"_Gramps, I quit."_

_..._

"Kakashi, why don't you take your students to get something to eat and tell him to put it on my tab," said Sarutobi making eye contact. Although it was subtle, the students could pick up the fact that there was something hidden within the words that were spoken.

"I think I will, come on you three, no missions today, team bonding," he said with a cheery attitude, his favourite orange book having somehow appeared in his hand. Team seven knew better than to argue with Kakashi, apart from the side it was a free meal they hadn't really done much as a team apart from missions.

"So where are we going Kakashi sensei?" asked Sakura shielding her eyes momentarily from the midday sun.

"We are going somewhere exclusive," explained Kakashi as he led his teams through the streets. However, as they started walking through back alleys their thoughts of how 'exclusive' this place was begun to scare them. They brushed past several men who licked their lips appetisingly at Sakura, chuckling menacingly. As she walked past she felt a thick hand caress her left butt cheek, causing her to leap forward slightly. Anger suddenly swelled through her as her fist clenched.

"You bastard!" she shouted as she turned around ready to knock the man's teeth in. She was slow however as somebody had beaten her to it. To her heart's content Sasuke had driven his elbow deep into the man's stomach while Kiba had knocked another man to the ground and stood over him threateningly.

"It's good to see that you three are prepared to protect one another," said Kakashi nonchalantly.

"Don't ever come near us again," threatened Sasuke causing hearts to appear in Sakura's eyes. To emphasise the point, Akamaru growled threateningly having grown to like the pink haired girl. The remaining two men seemed to get the idea and backed away, leaving their comrades lying on the ground in agony.

"Why did you take us down here?" screamed Sakura at their instructor.

"Didn't think to take the roofs," said Kakashi as a man brushed past him, smoking something that looked like a cigarette. Kiba's sensitive nose however easily distinguished that it wasn't tobacco.

"What is that?" he asked the man as he walked past.

"Its weed man," the guy said slowly. "You should try some."

"Weed as in marijuana?" asked Kiba to which the guy nodded with a chuckle.

"What else would I mean man? Got this stuff from Iwa, some of the best around," he said with a toothy smile, many of which were missing. He offered the little white stick to Kiba who reached out to take it only for him to be pulled away by Sakura.

"We're going," she said pushing forward. "Where is this place Kakashi sensei? And isn't marijuana illegal?"

"We're almost there, don't worry," said Kakashi as he started moving again. "As for marijuana being illegal, not in this part of the city."

"What do you mean?" asked Kiba wondering if he could get his hands on some of that stuff the man had offered him.

"This is a really run down part of the city as you can tell," explained Kakashi as they walked along. "The council refuses to do anything with it and with no real governing body in this area it becomes a free for all. That's not to mean that everybody here doesn't abide by rules, they're simply unwritten laws like you can injure but not cripple or kill. You'll find things like prostitutes, gamblers, thieves, drunks, drug dealers and the occasional brawler."

It was at that moment a man was tossed halfway across the street, skidding across the cobblestones before coming to a stop. Walking up to him purposefully was a purple haired woman wearing a mesh body suit with a tatty coat over the top alongside a very short skirt. As the man began to get back up he found a foot atop the back of his head before his face was buried into the ground in front. "For the last time," said the woman as she continued to rub the man's face into the earth below, "I'm not a fucking hooker!"

"You see," said Kakashi pointing to the woman to which Sakura and Kiba nodded in understanding.

"Hey Kakashi, how's it going?" asked the woman as she bounced towards the Jōnin, scaring the two genin slightly.

"Not too bad, just taking my team out for some lunch," explained Kakashi.

"Well isn't a team meant to have three of the kids?" asked Anko prompting the team to look once again amongst themselves to find that Sasuke had gone missing.

"Come on another hundred," came the Uchiha's voice from nearby, causing them to look and find him crouching next to a man who had three cups in front of him. Pulling one cup up he revealed a small ball before placing the cup down and rotating the cups in random directions, mixing them within one another. Sasuke's eyes remained focused on the one that it was under and when he was asked to pick the right one he chose the left cup, only to find that there was nothing underneath it. The man pulled the right cup up to show the ball there safe and sound, causing the young genin to scowl as he paid the money owed.

"Double or nothing," enticed the salesman causing Sasuke's eyes to light up. Before he could reach his wallet however he felt himself being picked up and put on his feet by his sensei.

"Another time Sasuke," said Kakashi not really caring about how his student lost his money.

"I was going to get it that time," brooded the last Uchiha as he was lead back to where his team was waiting with Anko.

"And that makes three," said the snake mistress. "Now are you guys going somewhere to eat?"

"We're heading 'there,'" said Kakashi causing the woman to nod in understanding.

"Ah, the pork's fresh today but you never get that do you, you don't even have a choice in the matter," said Anko. "I'd join you but I've got places to go, people to scare."

"I'll see you around Anko," said Kakashi as the woman leapt onto the roofs and out of sight. "Nice woman that one."

"She's psychotic!" exclaimed Sakura causing Kakashi's eyebrow to rise in confusion.

"The things she said while you got Sasuke, Akamaru's not going to be able to sleep for a week," said Kiba as his face resumed a non shocked state.

"Well that's Anko for you," said Kakashi as they started to walk again.

"You sure this place is a place where we should be sensei?" asked Sakura nervously.

"Is there anything wrong with it?" asked Kakashi with his nose buried in his favourite book.

"Shouldn't the Hokage have this place destroyed or something like that?" asked Kiba.

"This is actually one of the Hokage's favourite places," said the one eyed ninja causing the genin to gasp in shock.

"Why would he come here?" asked Sakura.

"Because it is here where he doesn't bare the title of Hokage, when he comes here he is treated as everybody else is treated, something which he actually misses," said Kakashi as they came to a stop.

"A ramen bar," stated Sasuke in disbelief. "We came all this way for a ramen bar." In all actuality he would have rather been back at the gambling corner trying to win his money back.

The team looked at the bar to find it was much larger than a normal street side vendor, nearly being the size of an actual restaurant. Customers inside could be heard chatting vividly with one another and it was the only place in the street which actually looked eccentric. "Tell me Sasuke, there's roughly thirty people in there now, how many of them look like active shinobi?" asked Kakashi.

The three students took their sensei's words in and observed the crowd to make a single discovery. "All of them," said Sasuke in confusion. "Of all the places why would they eat here?"

"Wait and see," said Kakashi as he walked forward and inside, slowly followed by his team.

"So this is your team Kakashi," boldly announced another man wearing a green spandex suit and having a black bowl haircut.

"Yes Gai, they're the first ones who managed to pass my test," said Kakashi.

"No way, somebody passed the unpassable test," shouted a random Chūnin having listened in on the conversation.

"Bullshit, I was in the first group to fail Kakashi's test, no way could somebody have done it," shouted another one.

"We must celebrate this my youthful rival," proclaimed Gai. "Make way for the newest genin of Konoha!" This was met with an audacious round of applause as they were lead to the bar where they found an almost identical image of Gai sitting there in the middle of an arm wrestling event. "Lee-san, how goes your contest?"

"Gai-sensei," said the student whipping his head over his shoulder to view the larger version of himself. This however allowed for his hand to be slapped against the table, splintering the wood underneath. This outcome had several members of the crowd cry out in agony, before parting ways with their money having had bet on the outcome of the match with other ninja.

"Don't lose your concentration next time Lee," said the man on the other side of the bar now gently caressing his hand. "I'll say though your grip only gets better and better."

"Chef-kun, such youthfulness is wonderful," exclaimed the spandex clad boy.

"That was wonderful Lee-san," said Gai with tears running down his face.

"Gai-sensei!" exclaimed Lee as tears swelled in his eyes.

"Lee-san!"

"None of that crap in my bar!" shouted the man who had just wrestled with Lee, causing the two youthful men to break one of their horrendous genjutsu. No matter how one wished to dispel it, it wouldn't occur until they wished it so. Yet everyone had learnt that you needed to stop it before it happened, hence resolving the problem. "And Lee, haven't I told you to always call me, oh Kakashi!"

Kakashi beamed at having been noticed as Lee fell into a depressed state having been overlooked in the last instance. "Afternoon," said Kakashi pocketing his book before taking a seat. "The usual thanks."

"Easy done and who are these three, this the team you were given," said the chef looking at the three genin.

"Yes, hopefully it will be more fulfilling than I expect," said Kakashi causing his genin to scowl behind him.

"Nice to meet you guys," said the boy behind the bar, only now having been properly seen for the first time since they had gotten here. He was roughly their age but was short and had blonde spiky hair. Over his clothes he wore a chef's apron which surprised them greatly.

"Uchiha Sasuke," greeted the top of the class.

"Haruno Sakura," introduced the pink haired girl.

"Inuzuka Kiba and this is Akamaru," introduced the dog boy.

"Ah an Inuzuka, I think your mother was in here earlier, she talks about you a lot when she's had a few to drink."

"Mum was here!" exclaimed Kiba in fright.

"I think she's gone now so you don't have to worry. Anyway I'll get you guys something to eat so don't worry about it. First time is on the house."

"Don't we have to pick something?" asked Sakura as she took a seat.

"Nobody here has ever picked what they are going to have," said Kakashi causing his students to look at him strangely. "This boy here can tell exactly what you will have just by looking at you and your mood; it's as if he has a sixth sense."

"That's crazy, no way can you guess what each of us will eat," said Kiba disbelieving.

"Believe it because it's being made now," he said with a smile.

"But aren't you the chef?" asked Sakura.

"I am."

"Then who's making it?" she asked again.

"I am."

"I think you may have lost a couple of noodles in your head man," stated Kiba petting the top of Akamaru's head.

"Trust me, there is nothing wrong," said Kakashi causing the boy to smile.

"You're too kind Kakashi."

"Who are you?" asked Sasuke looking at the boy quizzically.

A broad smile crossed his face as he leant on the counter, brushing his hair out of his face in such a way that made Sakura's heart flutter a bit. "Name's Uzumaki Naruto, second best Ramen chef in Konoha," he introduced, the smile never leaving his face.

**...**

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	2. What Happens in the Lawless Zone

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

"_You're quitting Naruto," said Sarutobi in shock._

"_As of this moment I am resigning from my duties as a shinobi," explained Naruto taking off the metal plate which had rested on the top of his head for so long. Walking forward, he placed it within the Hokage's waiting hand._

"_This is most unexpected," said Hiashi, the spilt tea all but forgotten._

"_We live in a shinobi society, unexpected is part of the job," said Naruto taking two steps backwards before bowing. "Hyūga-san, Hokage-san, I shall take my leave now."_

_He turned away, a steady march towards the door where every step served a purpose. "What will you do Naruto?" asked the Hokage causing Naruto to stop in his steps before he inhaled deeply, turning towards his superiors to give his answer._

_..._

"_You quit being a ninja!" exclaimed Ayame in shock. Her father in the back had stopped the ramen he was making due to the news he had just heard. Naruto didn't reply in words, rather his head drooped disapprovingly, clearly indicating that he didn't want to talk about the subject._

"_Well what are you going to do Naruto?" asked Teuchi as he began to slowly cook the ramen he was making again._

"_Well, if it's possible could I become your apprentice, only if you want to," said Naruto not trying to pressure the family into anything. The welcoming smile he got however was just the thing he needed._

_..._

Two and a half years later Naruto had finished a four year apprenticeship, having excelled in the department that quickly. However the number of customers that they had gotten over the time when he had been behind the kitchen consisted of only a handful of regulars, many civilians fearing that the monster may poison them with food. As such a business proposition had been made where Naruto would open up his own restaurant out of the way of normal people, allowing civilians to feel that they could eat at Teuchi's ramen bar safely. Along with the funds he still had left over from his days as a ninja, Teuchi had given him a loan to help build the restaurant. As such, Naruto paid ten percent of his profits to Teuchi on a monthly basis.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, civilians returned to Teuchi's bar and those who had associated with Naruto back when he had fought alongside him went to Naruto's bar. It hadn't taken long for word to get around the ninja community and soon the building had become popular, becoming the first place of choice for many of the shinobi in the village.

"Second best Ramen Chef? What kind of title is that?" asked Kiba.

"I'm good but I reckon my sensei is still better, plus he has years more experience than I do," explained Naruto with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Did you say your name was Uzumaki Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"That's me," he said with a broad smile. He then noticed the fact that her eyes seemed to drop if ever so slightly away from his gaze. "Let me guess, you have civilian parents one of whom is on the council who has a tendency to speak about me in a rather crude manner."

"How did you know that?" asked Sakura confused.

"Your last name is the same as one of the civilian council members who held hatred towards me for some reason or another, no doubt passing it down to you. Yukihiro and I have never really seen eye to eye," he said rubbing the back of his head as he chuckled.

Sakura however was processing this information, everything having been said the truth. It was weird when he had spelt it out, from a young age she had been instructed to stay away from the blonde haired menace known as Naruto, yet now that she was looking at him she couldn't understand why, he was a chef; surely he wasn't that dangerous.

"Alright I've got your meals here boss," said somebody from behind carrying five bowl of ramen with expert skill, one in each hand, another further up each forearm and one skilfully balanced on his head.

"Ah cheers," said Naruto looking at his doppelganger which served only to confuse the fresh genin.

"Is that a clone?" asked Sasuke intrigued.

"Yeah, point being?" asked Naruto in response to which Sasuke merely shrugged, clearly this Ramen Chef was more than he appeared. Naruto just shrugged in response as he started taking the bowls from his clone. "Alright we have a Paiku for Kakashi, Negi without the fungi for Sakura, Tonkatsu without the veggies for Kiba and Gyoza with extra spice for Sasuke. Finally we have the plain beef ramen for one Akamaru."

The dog yipped excitedly in response as it leapt from the safety of Kiba's jacket onto the counter where the bowl was placed before excitedly feasting away at the contents within. Meanwhile the other three were looking at the bowls confused, somehow having been given a bowl suited specifically for their cravings, down to the point where Sakura didn't have the appetite for fungi. They looked to their sensei for answers only to find his bowl empty as he placed the chopsticks into the vacant area where Ramen once was.

"Did anybody get a photo?" shouted a random ninja nearby.

"It was too quick, I didn't see him even take it down," admitted another one.

"My, my, gambling on me now are we," said Kakashi knowing that he was one of the biggest secrets in the village, the secret as to what was behind his mask.

"Yosh, Kakashi, now that you have eaten we must challenge one another to one of our contests," shouted Guy filled with renewed vigour. Before Kakashi could reply however, Naruto stepped in.

"Guy, I think Lee's flames of youth have dampened, take him for fifty laps around Konoha, that should get them going again," he said.

"NOOOOOOO!" shouted Gai holding his head in agony. "Lee we must run to ensure you stay most youthful!"

"Yes Gai sensei!" shouted Lee leaping out of the slump he was in.

"Kakashi, our contest will have to wait for the flames of youth wait for nobody!" said Gai blinding several people in the bar with his teeth.

"My eyes!" shouted one person in the background.

"Let us go Lee-san!"

"Yes Gai-sensei!" responded the miniature version before they vanished in a puff of smoke, running faster than the eye could keep up with them. Several voices were heard moaning around them, many of them having been willing to bet on the outcome of the Kakashi versus Guy battle.

"Those two are great fun but over eccentric, you just need to know what to say to get rid of them," Naruto explained. He then turned his attention directly to the three genin in front of him. "What are you guys waiting for; your food's getting cold."

The three students looked amongst one another nervously before beginning to eat the food in front of them. Instantly they found a wave of flavours wash over their taste sensation, and they soon found themselves shovelling the food into their mouths. They found the food irresistible, as if it were drugged to make them only want more. Sakura however stopped halfway through causing Naruto to look at her.

"I'm on a diet," she explained.

"Hence why I gave you a vegetable type of ramen rather than the meat that everyone else got, don't go wasting what was given to you. Even Akamaru finished everything he got," said Naruto pointing to the empty bowl in front of the pup who had decided to take a nap on the counter, prompting some of the younger female Chūnin to say how cute he was. Sakura looked at Naruto before observing the food in front of her before putting more into her mouth, once again settling into a comfortable routine.

A few minutes passed before both Sasuke and Kiba finished their meal with a satisfied sigh. "That was freaking awesome!" shouted Kiba patting his stomach.

"Glad you liked," said Naruto as another clone walked through and grabbed the empty bowls.

"They're not normal clones are they," said Sasuke pointing at the clone.

"You've got a good eye Sasuke, those are shadow clones," explained Kakashi who had begun reading once again.

"Shadow clones?" asked Sakura as she finished eating.

"Clones which have an actual body rather than just being an illusion, only a handful of ninja in the village can perform it due to the amount of chakra it uses," explained Kakashi as he lowered his book, noting that Sasuke was taking an interest in the blonde in front of him.

"So how many clones have you got going at the moment?" asked the last Uchiha.

"There's five in the kitchen and three entertaining customers," said Naruto indicating the clone further down the bar where another Naruto was chatting happily away with other ninjas. "Then there's also another one roaming around town getting some more ingredients."

"I see," said Sasuke deep in thought.

"You were arm wrestling that guy before weren't you?" asked Kiba leaning forward. "What's say we have a little test of strength ourselves?"

"We've got a challenge," said Kakashi to the other ninjas behind him.

"Who is it this time?" asked a Chūnin.

"A genin, Tsume's son," explained another.

"Alright, Forty to One odds on the challenger," shouted an ANBU who was standing next to a blackboard, writing down the odds. "Ten to Nine on Naruto."

"Forty to One!" stated Kiba in disbelief as people began waving handfuls of money towards the ANBU. "Ha, I'll show them, this'll be easy."

"Nine thousand on Naruto," said Kakashi, handing his money to a wandering man who was collecting odds before giving him a slip with the amount he could win written on it. Having heard his sensei bet against him caused the Inuzuka to sulk somewhat, even his teacher didn't have any trust in him. Sakura and Sasuke looked between one another nervously, while Kiba had been dead last he had had a lot of skill physically wise.

"Alright let's do this!" shouted Kiba getting revved up. He placed his arm on the bench holding his hand upright. Naruto smirked as he mimicked the action, taking Kiba's hand in his grasp. Kiba had to do his best not to wince under the grip the boy was giving him, it was as if his fingers were being crushed.

"Want a little side bet?" asked Naruto. This got Kiba interested.

"What's the offer?" he asked.

"If you win, you and Akamaru can eat here free for a month," stated Naruto, causing the pup who had just woken up due to the noise being made to get excited at the prospect of free food.

"What happens if you win?" asked Kiba contemplating about how much food he would be eating shortly.

"Then you have to fix the counter," said Naruto. Kiba looked at the cracks which had been where Naruto had beaten Lee and smirked to himself. Even if he lost it would only take five minutes at most to fix something like that.

"You're on," he said boastfully.

"Sakura, could you count us in?" asked Naruto politely.

"Oh yeah sure," said Sakura snapping out of her stupor. "On your marks, get set, Hajime!"

Only a split second after the word had been said Kiba found his hand buried deep within the wooden counter, splinters of all shapes and sizes piercing into his skin. He howled in pain as his hand was removed from the rubble, shaking slightly. "My bad, I thought you were stronger than that," said Naruto rubbing the back of his head. "You might want to go by the hospital, there might be a slight fracture in your bones."

Kiba didn't need to be told, he could feel that something within his hand had cracked if only slightly. "Good idea," he said getting to his feet shaking slightly.

"So you'll be back tomorrow to fix my counter," stated Naruto causing Kiba to analyse the total damage that the wooden board had taken. This was going to take a lot longer than five minutes.

"Yeah," he said with dampened hope, walking out of the bar with his head held low, Akamaru walking beside his masters side a little angry at the fact he had blown the chance to eat free food for a month.

"I'll make sure he gets home," said Kakashi as he was handed his winnings, not surprisingly many people had won choosing the obvious favourite.

"See you later Kakashi," said Naruto with a wave as the copy ninja followed his student.

"How do you know Kakashi sensei so well?" asked Sakura turning to face the blonde behind the counter.

"He was my sensei for a while," explained Naruto nonchalantly, "back in the old days."

"But he said that he'd never passed a team before," said Sakura remembering that information from their humiliating effort at the training ground.

"Who said I was ever on a team?" asked Naruto in response. This however only created more questions, facts for Sakura to brew over deep in thought.

"How old were you when you graduated the academy?" asked Sasuke.

"Does it matter? I'm not a ninja anymore," said Naruto dejectedly.

"Yet you still use ninja techniques," said Sasuke pointing to the clones around the place. "So how old were you?"

Naruto sighed running his fingers through his hair. "Six," he answered bleakly, clearly not liking the topic.

"You graduated when you were six years old!" said Sakura in disbelief, Sasuke however just seemed to brood on this information.

"Not something I'm proud of these days, as you can see the life of a ninja wasn't for me," said Naruto indicating the bar.

"Thank you for the meal," said Sasuke as he got off the bar stool, turning his back on Naruto.

"Right, left, right, middle, middle, left, left, right, left and finally middle," said Naruto causing the black haired boy to stop in his tracks. Absorbing this information, Sasuke continue his walk.

"What was that about?" asked Sakura.

"That's the usual combination the cup gambler does to his new clients," said Naruto as he pulled out a bottle of Sake in front of Sakura.

"I'm not allowed to drink," said Sakura eyeing off the alcohol in front of her.

"Just like you're not allowed to talk to Uzumaki Naruto," said the blonde boy with a smirk. "Remember you're in the lawless zone here, anything goes."

"I-I guess you're right," said Sakura double taking the situation. Her teammates had left her, one to go to the hospital the other to the gambling game on the corner of the street, none of which she really wanted to be a part of. Lifting the bottle to her lips she had her first sip of Sake. At first the liquid burned at her throat before it went down smoothly, a unique taste imprinting itself on her tongue.

"First time's always the hardest," said Naruto as he pulled up a bottle for himself.

"Should you be drinking on the job?" asked Sakura in between a coughing fit.

"Hasn't stopped me before," said Naruto taking a swig from his bottle. "Anyway the crowds slowly starting to die, business is nearly over for the day. Have to close up and all before night falls, it gets pretty rowdy around then."

"How do you survive in such a rough area?" asked Sakura as she took another hesitant sip, this one a little larger than her first.

"You get used to it, see you later girls," he said waving to a couple of female Chūnin who waved to him in return, giggling slightly.

"You're rather friendly," said Sakura giving a knowing smirk.

"They're regulars, you get used to it," said Naruto taking another swig. "Anko's one of the worst, flaunting everything she has on offer but gets upset if you do anything inappropriate."

"You mean that woman who attacked that big man earlier, the one with purple hair?" asked Sakura remembering the woman from earlier.

"That's her, don't get on her bad side, that's the best advice I can give you," warned Naruto as he waved to a few more customers who were leaving. It was also then that another girl came onto the scene and entered the shop.

"Hey Naruto!" exclaimed the brown haired woman as she took a seat next to Sakura. She wore a pink sleeveless blouse and light green pants.

"Hey Tenten, here you go," said Naruto offering the bowl which had already been prepared, one of the clones having brought it to him moments ago.

"One day I'm going to rock up and you're not going to have my order ready," said Tenten in a joking manner as she begun to eat.

"Oh, Sakura meet Tenten, Tenten Sakura," introduced Naruto indicating both of the girls in front of him.

"Nice to meet you," said Sakura as Tenten swallowed.

"Likewise," said the brown haired girl before she began to gorge on the food in front of her again. Halfway through her momentum she grabbed a small purse and emptied it of coins.

"How much does ramen cost here?" asked Sakura looking at the stack of money.

"Only this much is for the ramen, the rest will go on her tab," explained Naruto as he divided up the money.

"What's she going to put on her tab?" asked Sakura. Answering her question Naruto bent down before bringing out another bottle of Sake. "I see," she added as Tenten began to drink alongside her.

"You'll be interested to know that Sakura is a part of the team belonging to your sensei's eternal rival," said Naruto causing Tenten to go into a coughing fit as she struggled to breathe.

"You're on Kakashi's squad," she said once she was able to breathe again.

"You're on that squad with the mini me clone?" asked Sakura to which Tenten nodded. Naruto smiled as he lifted the Sake bottle to his lips, knowing that it was only going to get more entertaining from here.

...

As the sun began to set on Konoha, the Naruto clones finished closing up the ramen bar. "Good job guys," said Naruto trying not to slur his speech. "Have the one guard on duty tonight; I think it's going to be a quiet one."

"Yes, boss," they replied before all but two dispelled. They looked at one another, glaring into each other's eyes. It was then that their hands waved in front of one another before they began playing Paper, Scissor, Rock to determine which clone would be staying on duty all night. Naruto turned away from his clones to find Sakura and Tenten standing there, leaning against one another for support.

"I still can't believe our teams are sso similar," said Tenten with laughter. "Wev got a sso called prodighy and a hyper... a hyper... hyperactive, that's the word! Where was I?"

"You know I can't remember," laughed Sakura as they stumbled and hit the ground with a thud, only causing the two girls to laugh even more.

"Easy girls easy," said Naruto as he helped the girls to their feet. Despite having consumed as much alcohol, if not more, than them he was still standing strong.

"Thanks cutie," said Tenten draping an arm around Naruto's shoulder.

"Back off he's my cutie," said Sakura possessively, wrapping her arm around the blonde haired boy's waist.

"Easy girls easy," said Naruto wrapping an arm around each girl. "I think it's time I took you two girls home."

"Aww, its early Naruto-kun," whined Tenten. "The night hasn't even begun."

"There's more!" exclaimed Sakura enthusiastically.

"Shakura, you 'member in second year academy?" asked Tenten. "The thing we were taught to get information from a guy or make him do something we want?"

"Yeah, I remember," said Sakura. "What about it?" Tenten threw glances at Naruto and somehow Sakura was able to get the message. "I see."

"Why do I have a feeling that I'm going to regret tonight?" said Naruto as Tenten grabbed his arm.

"Come on Naru-kun, I knows this great place," she said dragging him. Sakura getting the same idea grabbed his other arm and helped pull him along, despite the fact she didn't know where Tenten was taking them.

"Well, well boys what we got here?" said a new voice from behind Naruto, causing the three teenagers to turn around. Four men were standing there wearing tattered clothes but they had lecherous smiles over their faces.

"What do you want," stated Naruto, his mood flipping nearly to a polar opposite.

"We're just wondering whether or not you'd be willing to share those two girls you got with you, one'd be fine but both would be better," the man said.

"They're staying with me," declared Naruto, both Tenten and Sakura huddled behind his back.

"Yeah, we're staying with Naru-kun," said Tenten promptly followed by Sakura who stuck her tongue out at the men.

"Well the thing is, you don't get a choice," said the man as he and his companions pulled several blades from their pockets menacingly. "Come with us now and we'll only cut you a little bit," he threatened licking his lips. Tenten and Sakura were about to retort, knowing full well that being trained warriors that they could take on thugs, despite their current form. Naruto beat them to it however as his hands flashed through a dozen hand seals before he extended his palm, a violent burst of wind pushing the men off their feet and into a nearby wall with enough force to knock them out.

"That's my choice bastard," said Naruto before he turned to the girls.

"You saved us Naru-kun," said Tenten hugging the young man.

"I know perfectly well that you two could have beaten them yourselves, but know that no matter what I will always protect my precious people," said Naruto.

"Here than Ten-chan, we're Naruto's precious people, isn't that great," exclaimed Sakura who embraced the blonde boy in a hug.

"Alright you two, I'm going to take you home," explained Naruto only to get simultaneous whines from the two girls.

"I don't want to go home," complained Tenten. "If I go home Lee-kun knows where to find me."

"If you take me home Naruto and my mother sees you she won't like it," said Sakura.

Naruto pondered over this for a minute. "You both make good points," he said. "Alright then, I've got a solution."

...

"Hello Tenten's father," said Lee excitedly as he jogged up and down on the spot despite the fact the sun had yet to rise.

"Morning Lee, what can I do for you this morning?" he asked in response.

"I was wondering if Tenten was available to do morning exercises with me before Guy-sensei's training," explained Lee.

"I'm sure she would be keen Lee however Tenten didn't come home last night, no doubt she spent the night at a friend's place."

"Do you know which friend?" asked Lee.

"I'm afraid not Lee but you can ask her when your training begins."

"I will, farewell sir and may your flames of youth burn brightly," said Lee before he ran off, a cloud of dust kicking up behind him. Meanwhile Tenten's father just smiled as he prepared to get started on his workload, ever since his daughter became a ninja he had had to take up the bulk of the work himself and he knew the apprentice wouldn't be there for several hours. With a sigh he put on his heavy duty gloves, he could already tell today was going to be a good day.

...

"Hello, Miss Yamanaka?" said Yukihiro Haruno over the phone, the first rays of the morning sun creeping through the nearby window.

"Speaking," replied the voice on the other side of the phone. "Might I ask who this is?"

"It's Sakura's mother, my daughter didn't come home last night and I was just wondering if she stayed there overnight with Ino."

"I just woke Ino up but I didn't see any sign of your daughter."

"I see, well thank you for your time."

"No problem."

With that the phone was placed back on the hook and Yukihiro couldn't help but wonder where her daughter was. She knew that Sakura had a lot of friends but Ino was the only one close enough to her that she would believe her daughter would stay the night there without telling. There was the option however that perhaps she had managed to spend the night at her teammate's house. A smile graced her lips as she thought about her daughter staying under the roof of the last Uchiha and she gave a girlish giggle at the thought. She would have to get all the juicy gossip from her daughter when she got home.

Little did she know that her daughter had stayed at a boy's house, just not the one she would have thought. Sleeping peacefully in a king sized bed was Sakura and Tenten who had rolled towards one another in the middle of the night, each cuddling up to the blonde haired boy as they slept peacefully. Naruto however had woken in a peculiar position and made the familiar hand seal to create eight clones. "Open up the restaurant, I'll be there later," he instructed in a little more than a whisper, not wanting to disturb the girls from their sleep. The clones nodded in understanding before the snuck out of the room, hardly making a sound.

Naruto yawned before he gently stroked the top of both Sakura and Tenten's head, making both girls sigh in content. "I'm going to be in so much shit when they wake up," he said before he made himself comfortable. Hopefully they would have some mercy against a person who was still sleeping.

...

**Hope you enjoyed, please review.**

**Darkskeleton: I hope I don't drop it either; I like this light hearted stuff.**

**Riotstarter1214: Anko hey, thought that almost would have been a given with the setting.**

**Narutoharem123: I did read "But he's just a ramen chef" however that does not mean that it will end up being similar in no more than base detail.**

**Daniel 29: Should I change it then? And if so to what?**

**I'm not quite sure on the name and the summary; send me some ideas of what I could change it to. Once again, please review, it makes all the difference.**


	3. A Morning Surprise

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

...

Kakashi watched as his team trained for the day, sparring casually with one another. After having had his hand looked at by the hospital staff, Kiba had undergone an hour's worth of treatment before he was cleared to leave. Yet Naruto had released a fire in his eye which made him want to get stronger, and as such he was currently fighting against Sasuke with everything he could muster. Sasuke however fought just as hard, not wanting to be outdone by the Inuzuka in any way shape or form. This is despite the fact that he was in a relatively good mood, having won a few thousand coins from the street merchant after the tip the blonde chef had given him.

Sakura sat on the side at the moment, yet not cheering for her precious Sasuke like she usually would. Kakashi looked at his pink haired student to find her hands placed between her knees as she fidgeted side to side nervously. She had said nearly nothing all day as if knowing that the slip of the tongue would reveal that something had occurred to which she wished it remained a secret. One line she had been told this morning continuing to repeat itself in her mind, _'I'll see you later.'_

The one eyed Jōnin however knew exactly what had happened, having watched the scenario befall Naruto and the two girls from the rooftops. While he knew that Sakura and Guy's student could have defended themselves quite easily against common thugs (despite the amount of alcohol they had indulged in), to have seen his former apprentice perform moves that he had helped him master several years earlier had brought a hidden smile to his face. However what had happened after that was a mystery to him, with his perverted mind however he could only think of thoughts not suitable for a younger audience.

"Why have you asked us here Kakashi?" asked the voice of Asuma Sarutobi as the Jōnin walked through the nearby woods, his team of Genin close behind.

"Ah, Asuma," said Kakashi with a wave of the hand as he turned his attention back to his two fighting students as Kiba was sent skidding across the ground. "Alright you two, knock it off." With a grunt of annoyance, Kiba got back to his feet as he saw the other students who had passed their sensei's test walk towards them.

Before any of team seven could say anything, Sasuke was attacked by Ino who leapt onto him and wrapped her arms around him tightly in a vicious hug. "Sasuke-kun, it's good to see you," she cooed. "Did you miss me?"

"Get your hands off of Sasuke Ino-pig," said Sakura getting to her feet. Ino's hold on Sasuke faded as she looked over at Sakura in curiosity, now being the first time in years that either one of them had not addressed Sasuke as 'Sasuke-kun.' Also the reaction had been delayed; usually she would have picked it up quicker and told Ino to back away before she had started to talk. Something was wrong with her friend and she was determined to find out what.

"Yo Kiba, long time no see," said the ever cheery Chouji who for once in a blue moon didn't have his mouth full of food.

"Hey there Chouji," said Kiba with a light wave as Akamaru ran to where the Akimichi stood, happily yipping at the boy's feet.

"Good to see you to Akamaru," said Chouji scratching the pup behind the ear, much to the pup's delight.

"What are we doing here sensei?" said Shikamaru Nara addressing Asuma.

"That's what I would like to know," came another voice from behind them. The two teams turned around to see Kurenai standing there with two of the three members of Team Eight behind her, Shino and Hinata.

"I trust there is a logical reason why we have all been brought here," analysed Shino from behind the cover of his glasses.

"I-It's g-good to see everyone again," said Hinata shyly, much to Kurenai's disapproving sigh. She had tried for days to get Hinata to become more outgoing and to lose that horrible stuttering problem she seemed to have developed but nothing she had done seemed to have any effect.

"Where's your third member?" asked Kakashi pointing to the vacant spot where the third member of Kurenai's team should have been.

"He's come down with the flu, he won't be out of bed for a number of days," she stated.

"Now Kakashi, tell us what you have brought us here for," said Asuma addressing his fellow Jōnin.

"Last night it came to my attention that there will be instances when our Genin may be forced to fight alongside somebody they are unfamiliar with if they were to become separated from their team," said Kakashi. At the tone of his words, Sakura's eyes went wide and her hands began to shake slightly. "As such I believe that it would be beneficial for our students to learn to fight alongside one another so that they can get a feel of each other's abilities."

"It makes sense," said Asuma deep in thought as he placed a cigarette into his mouth. His team was a replica of their father's famous team, yet if by some chance one of them was sent on a mission with somebody they weren't accustomed to fighting alongside it could prove, as Shikamaru liked to put it, 'Troublesome.'

"So how is this going to work, are we going to have them fight one another in team battles?" asked Kurenai. Hinata shied away slightly at this, not wanting to fight the people she had become friends with at the academy.

"Actually I've asked for some assistance from an outside source," said Kakashi. "Since they have trained with each other it would be a fight about the knowledge each person had on the other team. This way they are fighting an enemy they have little knowledge about, much like an actual fight scenario."

"Always two steps ahead," said Asuma as he finished lighting the cigarette in his mouth.

"Since one of Kurenai's students is sick, I guess we'll have to have one team of two," said Kakashi as all of the students came together. "All of the kunoichi will form one team and it is between the boy's as to who will be on a team of two and who will be on the team of three. The only rule being that you cannot partner with somebody on your team."

"Looks like we're going to partnered together 'Billboard Brow,'" said Ino rubbing up against the pink haired girl.

"This just gives me a chance to see how much stronger than you I am Ino-Pig," said Sakura continuing their friendly rivalry.

"I hope I can help," said Hinata timidly, unsure of how she could help in the fight to come.

The Genin looked amongst one another before Shikamaru began to address them. "This is troublesome," he said as he ran his fingers through his hair. "If the five of us have to make two teams, Shino you have no choice but to be on the team of three, otherwise two people on the same Genin team would be partnered together."

"Understood," said Shino having already figured that out.

"From memory," said Shikamaru indicating Chouji, Kiba and Sasuke, "You three were the heavy hitters of our class while Shino and I are more the capture type. Therefore I'll go onto the team of two and either Kiba or Sasuke has to join me."

"I'll do it," nominated Kiba. "If we need the extra person then Akamaru can transform into a copy of me."

"That may not be wise," said Shino.

"What do you mean?" asked Kiba.

"If we had the two of you along with Chouji," he said having deduced that the Akimichi was going to be on his team, "Then if you were to hoard whoever we are fighting towards me then I would be able to quickly subdue them."

"So that means I'm fighting with lazy pants over here," said Sasuke pointing to Shikamaru who just took the name in stride.

"It seems you guys are sorted," said Kakashi looking at the teams they had formed. "Now you've got to decide which team will fight first, second and last."

"Shouldn't we know who our opponents are first?" asked Ino.

"You will never know who you may face on the battlefield, why should this training regime be any different?" said Kakashi to which he received a groan of approval.

"So all eight of us are going to be fighting the one team," said Shikamaru to which Kakashi gave him a nod of approval. He then turned to his fellow Genin. "Alright, since Kakashi believes that the fight between this team is going to trouble all of us, we can assume that they would be strong enough to defeat any of us in a one on one scenario. I believe then that Shino's team should go first and try and wear this team down as much as possible. Then the girls should go, hopefully they would have been weakened to such a point that Hinata could use her families style and close some of the opponents Tenketsu points. If the third fight is necessary then both Sasuke and I will fight, are we clear on this?"

"As expected of him, he figured out the best scenario in only a couple of seconds," said Kakashi to his two Jōnin partners.

"He is one of the best strategists I've ever met, I just wish he would break away from his father's lazy streak," said Asuma.

"Doesn't Ino kick him into gear?" asked Kurenai.

"She tries but you know how hard it is to motivate a male Nara," said Asuma with a sigh.

"Oh, by the way I forgot to mention one thing before your opponent arrives," said Kakashi loudly getting the attention of the Genin. "If you can beat this guy then the three of us will shout you as much food as you want."

"What!" exclaimed Asuma and Kurenai.

"That wasn't part of the deal," said the female Jōnin as Asuma began to worry about how much Chouji would eat if they got through this task. It was then that ninjas of Konoha began appearing right, left and centre of all ranks.

"What's going on?" asked Ino as she saw her father appear nearby. Hinata seemed to shy away wondering why so many people had appeared. A small gasp escaped her lips as she saw many members of her family standing nearby, including her father.

"Mum!" exclaimed Kiba looking at Tsume standing near a group of trees.

"Do me proud son and just don't die," she said with a teeth baring smile which only served to scare her son.

"Kakashi, would you care to explain why my father is here?" asked Asuma pointing to the Third Hokage who seemed to have come to watch the festivities as well.

"I may have announced the contest to a few people when I asked the challenger to help today," said Kakashi hoping that Kurenai wouldn't place him in some vicious Genjutsu. He then turned his attention to the students who had separated into their teams.

"Who's fighting first?" shouted Ino's father to which Shino put his hand up as the representative for their team.

"We're second," boasted Ino proudly. With her father here she felt as if she had to prove a point, she would not disappoint him.

"Last," said Shikamaru.

"That's my boy," said Shikaku Nara, Shikamaru's father who was trying to remember how he had gotten talked into coming here.

"So who are we fighting?" asked Sasuke looking around at all of the potential competitors, shinobi of all ranks surrounded them and he was willing to test his strength against any of them. He knew that if any of them managed to get through to him they would be tired and Shikamaru couldn't be trusted to do much himself. Sure the guy was a genius but he was lazy, if lucky he will have conjured a winning strategy for them by the end of the second fight if need be.

"Here he comes," said Kakashi as the crowds parted slowly.

"I still don't know why I agreed to do this," said a familiar voice as the teenager began to walk out of the woods. "Still all of my potential customers are here at the moment so I need to finish this quickly if I want to make any kind of profit today."

"Not him," said Kiba backing away slowly, causing Shino and Chouji to look at him peculiarly having never seen the Inuzuka back away from a fight. Sasuke's fist clenched tightly, now wishing that the groups before him managed to weaken the blonde haired boy down effectively.

Sakura was the worst however as she was visibly shaking so much so that Ino and Hinata were trying to comfort her. Yet now the morning was coming all back to her and everything began to make sense.

...

_Sakura awoke with her head thumping and she groaned audibly as her hand rubbed against the warmest teddy bear she could ever imagine. This teddy bear also wasn't fuzzy but rather it felt like human skin...and it was breathing. Slowly her eyes peered open to find that she was not in her bed and that she didn't recognise anything of the surrounding area, none of it looked remotely like her room._

"_Morning," said the person next to her catching her attention. Looking at him, she struggled not to scream as she saw the Ramen Chef Naruto in between her and the girl Tenten whom she met both only the prior day._

"_No talk, me no want to get up," mumbled Tenten still in a dream like state, her arms wrapped around Naruto protectively._

"_Why am I here?" asked Sakura as she sat up causing the blankets to fall to the ground._

"_Cold," muttered Tenten as she rubbed up against Naruto for warmth to which he began to rub her back with his free arm._

"_You were quite drunk last night," said Naruto looking the pink haired girl in the eyes. "Neither of you two wanted to go home last night so I brought you back here. I offered you two my bed and said that I would go sleep on the couch but you two wouldn't let me."_

_Sakura tried to remember back to last night but could only vaguely see bits and pieces, everything else seemed to be a haze. She recalled meeting Tenten and them talking as if best friends, what they were talking about was hard to recall. Then they had left and tried to drag Naruto off somewhere but had been stopped by some thugs, the result of that conflict wasn't quite clear but she was unharmed so she took it that it went well. Then she and Tenten had followed her back to Naruto's and that was all she could clearly remember._

"_I guess that sounds about right," said Sakura with her chin resting in the cup of her hand. She looked at Naruto for confirmation to see that his eyes were looking at the wall while his cheeks were stained red with blush. "What's wrong, it looks like you're coming down with a fever," said Sakura as she leant forward over his chest placing her palm on Naruto's forehead._

"_Trust me it's not that," said Naruto avoiding eye contact._

"_Then what is it?" asked Sakura perplexed._

"_Your shirts on the chair over there," pointed Naruto referring to a desk chair in the corner of the room. Sakura blinked awkwardly a few times before looking over at the chair to find both Tenten's shirt and her own sitting there idly. She looked at Tenten to find the brown haired girl's breasts pressed tightly against Naruto's side in comfort. Her gaze then turned to her exposed breasts and noticed that they were only half an inch away from Naruto's chest._

"_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she squealed causing Tenten to groan disapprovingly. Sakura leapt off the bed and quickly put her shirt on, her face flushed red with embarrassment._

"_I swear I didn't do anything," reassured Naruto as he reached down and grabbed the blanket which Sakura had kicked off the bed._

"_Naru-kun's not like that," agreed Tenten whose eyes fluttered open, the whole scene with her being half naked in bed with Naruto something she had grown accustomed to. "I'm the one who told you to take your top off, don't blame him."_

_Naruto sat up straight momentarily as a clone's memories flooded into his mind. "My clone told me to tell you that Kakashi is looking for you Sakura," he said._

"_Anything from Guy-sensei?" asked Tenten._

"_Nothing I've heard," said Naruto._

"_That's good," said Tenten closing her eyes, once again making herself comfortable by Naruto's side._

"_I-I guess I'll be going," said Sakura walking towards the door at a quick pace._

"_Take the window, it's quicker," said Naruto indicating the window at the left side of the room. Sakura didn't reply verbally but her path changed and she opened the window. "One last thing that Kakashi wanted me to tell you from me, which sounds pretty silly."_

"_What is it?" asked Sakura barely looking over her shoulder._

"_I'll see you later."_

_..._

Later had now met the present and Sakura was staring at the person she had willingly slept next to the night before. She was unsure why she didn't act in a more violent way, maybe it had been Tenten's reassuring words. "Are you okay?" asked Hinata looking at Sakura's shaking form.

"F-f-f-fine," stuttered Sakura swallowing deeply, trying to bury her nerves to no success. Ino looked at her friend and how she reacted to this teenager walking towards them and braced herself. Somehow she was scared of this person and that didn't sit right by her standards.

"So," said Naruto stifling a yawn while standing there bare-chested, as his khaki pants flowed in the breeze rattling the katana tied to his waist. "Who's fighting me first?"

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Darkskeleton: By all means compare the fics, that way I know how I'm doing against my predecessors.**

**Kakarot Son: Will he become a ninja again? Wait and find out.**

**If you have a question, a suggestion or just want to chat send it to me in a review. Peace out.**


	4. First Battle

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Hanabi watched this yellow haired teenager walk slowly into the centre of the training ground with everybody watching him intently. "What's going on father?" she asked of the head of the Hyūga clan who was standing beside you.

"That boy there was once known as a prodigy," explained Hiashi to his youngest daughter.

"Much like cousin Neji," said Hanabi.

"Even more so, at the age of ten he was eligible to become a Jōnin but he quit out of the blue, saying that he no longer wished to be a ninja," explained Hiashi.

"What happened?" asked Hanabi, enjoying the story greatly. The light scowl which crossed her father's face however made her believe that she had said the wrong thing. Hiashi turned his head towards where the third Hokage was standing.

"The only people in this field who know anything about that incident are the Sandaime and Naruto, the only way for anybody else to learn that information is to hear it from Naruto himself, even the council cannot force him to talk. The only thing I know about that day is that I have never seen a more determined look on his face. Something happened that day and it changed him, what it was however I have no clue," explained Hiashi. A sad look fell onto Hanabi's face as she turned to watch the bare-chested man step in front of the young Genin, including her older sister. Looking at his back, the young Hyūga knew that she had to know more.

...

"What are the odds?" asked Tenten to one of the ANBU standing nearby.

"We're not in the lawless zone at the moment, therefore no betting is being done in the open," explained the ANBU, looking down at the genin through his mask.

"Damn it," she cursed as she turned to walk away before she felt a light tap on her shoulder. Turning her head she saw the ANBU slyly pointing his finger into the forest behind. Nodding in understanding, she quickly ran in the indicated direction as fast as she could before she came across a small betting ring with several ANBU standing on boxes as members of the shinobi community waved wads of cash at them. A large blackboard was hanging from a branch above them with various odds written on it in white chalk.

"The Akimichi bet fifty thousand on Naruto to be defeated in the third round," said a member of the big boned family, handing his money to an ANBU soldier.

"Fifty thousand at five to one, that's two hundred and fifty thousand if you're right," said the ANBU writing the amount on a piece of paper before handing it back to the Akimichi.

"Ten thousand on Naruto not using a single jutsu," said a member of the Aburame clan.

"We've got a long shot of twenty to one here," said the ANBU handing the paper slip over in exchange for money.

"Twenty thousand on that he accidentally kills one," said Anko with a broad smile across her face.

"Alright that's three to one odds, a nice solid bet," said the ANBU writing it out. Tenten swallowed after hearing what the snake mistress had put her bet on, she was even more nervous that the odds made it sound so likely.

"Please don't do anything stupid Naruto," she said under her breath as she tried to figure out how much she could put on him for the straight out victory, a little disappointed at the small odds it was giving out.

...

"This is our opponent," said Shikamaru looking at the blonde haired teenager standing in front of them.

"He looks about our age," said Chouji.

"He may be under the guise of a henge," said Shino being cautious.

"He's not," said Kiba swallowing nervously. "We met him yesterday."

"Remember you still have to come and fix my counter later on today, don't make me come after you," said Naruto with a smile pointing his blade at the Inuzuka. The scary part of the whole scenario was that none of the Genin had seen him draw the blade. With a sigh he put the blade back in its holder before undoing it from his waist and laying it on the ground. "This is meant to be serious training for you guys, come at me with the intent to kill otherwise you may just end up in the morgue."

"He's not serious is he?" asked Ino looking at the Sakura for some answers. The look she got however was not reassuring.

"I believe that it is time that we commence," said Shino stepping forward, Chouji close behind. Kiba needed a few more seconds before he to stood next to them.

"At least I've got you by my side boy," he said to the white puppy at his feet, to find the canine not there. Looking around, he found the dog having its stomach scratched by Naruto. "Akamaru!"

"What can I say?" said Naruto as he stopped his hand, allowing the dog to get back onto its feet. He then looked Akamaru dead in the eyes. "You know what boy, if you choose not to fight I'll give you a free meal when your master comes by today, what do you say?"

The white pup had confusion written all over his face as he looked between Naruto and Kiba, making one of the toughest decisions it had ever had to conjure. As the other two teams moved to the side of the field and out of the range of fire, Akamaru yipped happily at their ankles, happy to know that he was getting a free meal at the end of the day. "I can't believe it," said Kiba sulking into his hands.

"Food beats loyalty sixty percent of the time," said Naruto getting to his feet. "I think it was your uncle that told me that," he said pointing to Chouji. "Before we start, I believe from memory that it is custom to introduce one another before a battle."

"Shino Aburame," said the bug user as his insects began to crawl onto his sleeves.

"Chouji Akimichi," said the big boned boy.

"And I already know Kiba there, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, second best ramen chef in town," introduced Naruto.

"What is a ramen chef doing on the battlefield, skilled hands such as your own should not be given a chance to be damaged," said Chouji worried.

"Looks can be deceiving," said Shino but was unsure of his own words.

"Stay on your guard," said Kiba as he got into his families fighting stance. "Not only is he a damn good ramen chef, but he can arm wrestle like a champion." This only prompted more confusing looks from his teammates.

"Remember the free food Chouji!" shouted Ino from the sidelines, causing fire to burn within the Akimichi's eyes.

"Let's do this," he shouted pumping his fist.

"Alright then," said Naruto standing casually. "Begin."

...

"Nara, watch this carefully because it's going to be you who figures out how to beat this guy," said Sasuke to his partner. "If you so much as think of watching the clouds Naruto's not going to be the one to worry about."

"Whatever," said the lazy boy turning his attention to the start of the bout.

...

At the sound of the starting word, Kiba lunged forward with murderous intent knowing that anything less would likely put him in the hospital. Quickly covering the distance in between him and Naruto, he took a wide swing at the blonde's face, only for the Uzumaki to tilt slightly to the side, avoiding the blow by the smallest of margins. Kiba followed up with a vicious kick which Naruto dodged with relative ease opening up Kiba's back.

Lifting his foot up, Naruto placed it on Kiba's back before pushing lightly. While not physically injuring, Kiba's pride was dealt a massive blow by something so insulting. "Nikudan Sensha!" shouted Chouji joining the fight, sending his body which had increased in size at the start of the fight at where Naruto was standing.

The blonde haired boy looked at the large ball rolling towards him, tearing up the ground as it travelled quickly. "It's not wise to take your eyes of your opponent," shouted Kiba swinging a fierce round house kick at Naruto's head. Without taking his eyes off of Chouji, Naruto's arm shot into the air and caught the limb with minimal effort as the ball came closer and closer. Lifting up his leg, Naruto stuck his foot out in the path of the giant ball, a sickening thud echoed through the air as Chouji connected with the appendage. Despite the fact that he was still spinning on the spot, Chouji wasn't moving anywhere as Naruto's foot stayed strong, the friction slowly burning through the sole of his shoe.

"What will you do now?" asked Shino as the bug user made his move. Turning his head slightly, Naruto watched as a swarm of bugs flew out of Shino's sleeves and began to crawl towards him making steady progress.

"Sound strategy," complimented Naruto. "However..." He opted not to say anymore as his spare hand began to go through hand seals.

...

"He knows one handed hand seals?" said Kurenai in shock, having never fought alongside the Uzumaki.

"He's full of surprises, I don't think anybody actually knows his full potential," said Asuma taking a drag from his cigarette. "I can see though why everybody would have wanted to come watch him fight."

"He's been serving food for the past three years, this was also a test for him to see if his skills have degraded at all," said Kakashi, the little orange book in his hand swaying by his side, his attention fully focused on the battle at hand.

"You mean he's not even at his peak?" asked Kurenai looking over at the copy ninja.

"No," said Kakashi turning his head to look at his fellow Jōnin instructors. "If anything he's gotten better."

...

"Futon Senpūken!" shouted Naruto thrusting his palm forward and sending a large blast of wind at Shino who barely managed to keep his feet, the force of the wind blowing him skidding back several steps. The insects however were not as lucky as they were scattered having blown away in the wind. If Shino was upset about losing his miniature army temporarily he didn't show it. Rather he opted to take the initiative and charge forward, thrusting his fist at Naruto's stomach.

Instead of using his hand, Naruto sprung off his other foot and landed on top of the outstretched fist much to the competitors' surprise. "Play times over," he said as his spare hand once again went through several seals. Instead of aiming his palm at one of the three boys, he changed his attack at the ground. Having pumped more chakra into the attack, Naruto was sent flying into the air before landing safely away from the attackers. Kiba however was not so lucky as with nothing pushing against him, Chouji was free to move forwards, it just so happened that that was where the dog boy was standing. He tried to defend himself by lifting his arms but it was futile as Chouji hit him with all his might.

Kiba hit the tree with a vicious crack, the crowd having parted as the Inuzuka flew in their direction. One of them checked the boy's pulse to find that he was still alive but in no condition to think about competing. Having realised what he had done, Chouji stopped his attack and looked at Naruto to find the blonde inspecting his shoe. "These were expensive you know," complained Naruto as he touched the hot rubber, most of which had been burnt off.

Shino pulled out a kunai and tossed it at Naruto only for the blonde haired boy to pluck the blade out of midair and toss it straight at Chouji, forcing the big boned kid to dodge. Naruto was now on the offensive as he ran forward at both Chouji and Shino who were staying close to one another for protection. With a single hand seal however, another Naruto burst into existence. The clone leapt high into the air, forcing Chouji's attention away from the real Uzumaki who used this distraction to drive his elbow deep into the Akimichi's stomach.

Shino tried to attack Naruto's blindside but the blonde was ready and grabbed the oncoming wrist before spinning the boy around and into Chouji, sending the two boys flying backwards, right into the path of the falling clone. Delivering a brutal double axe kick, the Naruto clone was able to take out both Shino and Chouji in a single move. As the clone vanished there was a round of applause as Naruto basked in his victory before turning his attention to the remaining contestants.

...

"We're dead," said Ino as Hinata shook nervously next to her.

"B-b-but w-we h-have to t-try," said the shy girl struggling to keep her feet.

"Everybody's watching," said Sakura swallowing nervously. "If we're going to die at least it's going to be in front of a crowd."

"Did you get anything out of that?" asked Sasuke to Shikamaru.

"Only that giving up seems like the best idea I've ever come up with, probably not much more than what you figured," said the lazy boy. "He and his clone worked in perfect sync, having made a plan within seconds and executed it having expected Shino to attack him from the side. Despite all three attacking him at once he was able to block or avoid every attack and not have a single blow land on him. We can't judge how much stamina he has so we can't hope to outlast him, if you could somehow get past the defence you might be able to do some damage, we don't know how he will react to actually taking a hit."

"So we're going to be fighting an opponent who we know nothing about," said Sasuke.

"Unless the girls can do something miraculous, which sounds about right," said Shikamaru lying on his back. "Wake me up when it's our turn," he said closing his eyes earning a light kick to the ribs.

...

"I'm waiting," said Naruto as the bodies of the defeated Genin were carried off by numerous members of the community.

"Girls, it was nice knowing you," said Ino as she along with Sakura and Hinata made their way to the centre of the field, nerves running through to their very core.

...

**Hope you enjoyed, I'm not used to writing detailed fight scenes so I hope I didn't make it too bland. I'm going to limit the harem to five people at most, four of which are already chosen. That's the plan at the moment but it might change later on.**

**Please review.**


	5. Defeated In a Good Way

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

"So that was Ino and Hinata right?" asked Naruto hoping that he had got the names right.

"T-that's right," said Hinata looking away, afraid to make eye contact with the blonde.

"It's nice to meet you girls, I have to say that it is a pleasure to meet young women of such beauty," flirted Naruto causing Hinata's face to redden at a rapid pace as Ino took a step back, the thought of anyone but her Sasuke-kun complimenting her appearance was foreign to her. Sakura just started shaking slightly, knowing that the boy had seen more of her then the other girls had ever showed anybody combined. "You're not still nervous about what happened this morning my little cherry blossom?"

Like Hinata before her, Sakura had to look away as a smirk spread across her face at the thought of the little pet name she had been given. "N-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n..."

"Sure you aren't," chuckled Naruto before he slipped into a comfortable stance. "Are you ready to begin?"

Ino swallowed as she slipped into her stance, knowing that she had no chance of getting into Naruto's mind unless either Hinata or Sakura were able to temporarily stop them. However as she looked at their current states she was unsure if they would be able to do anything constructive. "Wait, wait, wait," she said waving her arms causing Naruto to relax before Ino beckoned to her teammates. "Team meeting, now."

...

"Smart on her part," muttered Kurenai to her fellow Jōnin instructors.

"She's used to keeping Shikamaru and Chouji in line, I think she's already realised that there is a problem here," said Asuma happy that one of his two students was willing to use their intelligence, at least in a non-Shogi scenario.

"She might be able to keep two boys in line but now she's got two girls who are having trouble seeing eye to eye with the man in front of them, and I don't think it's from freight," said Kakashi as he began to giggle at the possibilities. He wondered if he could ever track Jiraiya of the Sannin down and get him to purchase the rights of this idea off of him, after all the 'Icha Icha' series always needed new ideas.

"Well if she can convince them then they might have a chance, if not they may be able to weaken him before his next fight," said Asuma.

"I wouldn't think that possible," said Kakashi as he stretched his arms high above his head.

"Why do you say that?" asked Kurenai looking at the famed Copy Ninja.

A smirk spread across his lips that went unseen by his fellow instructors. "Naruto's never fought women the same way he's fought men," he said cryptically which made Asuma and Kurenai even more interested in what was going to happen next.

...

"Hinata, Sakura, snap out of it!" said Ino in a hushed yet serious tone as the three girls formed a tight circle with one another. "Look sure he's cute, strong and has a personality that can woo anybody but we're about to fight him."

"You don't sound so convinced yourself," said Sakura gaining a small snarl out of the blonde haired woman.

"Well we just to have to keep our heads in the game and not look at his gorgeous abs," said Ino before she clamped her hand over her mouth.

"Ino-san," said Hinata in disbelief, having always known Ino as a person to only compliment a single boy in such a way not as a joke.

"This changes things," said Sakura thinking that the friendly rivalry between her and Ino may not have faltered yet, just the target may have changed.

"It doesn't, I still like Sasuke," said Ino in a flustered state, forgetting to add the 'Kun' at the end of Sasuke's name, something that was quickly picked up by Sakura.

"Well if w-we stick t-together we can f-f-fight him now and f-figure out what w-will happen afterwards," said Hinata trying to bring the girls around.

A cunning idea suddenly sparked in Sakura's mind on how best to get the girls to co-operate without fighting themselves over who would go for the blonde haired boy. "You two have never seen him before have you?" asked Sakura to which the two girls shook their heads, despite the fact Naruto had once saved Hinata but had done it so fast she hadn't seen her saviour. "Well if we can somehow pull this off and show the entire ninja community how strong we are, I know where he works and will take you there later on today."

The effect was instantaneous as a resolve of flames burned within Hinata and Ino's eyes, knowing that they would have an opportunity to see even more of the boy after they fought. A part of their brains erased the fact Sakura had said that they had to win but that didn't matter, what mattered was Sakura had offered to take them there at the end of the battle.

"It seems you are ready," said Naruto as the three girls broke from their circle with renewed vigour.

"We're ready whenever you are," said Ino as the three girls took their respective stances, only one of which was uniquely clan based.

"Very well then," said Naruto. "Begin when you are ready."

Ino, Sakura and Hinata stood still however, having seen how flawlessly had defeated the three boys earlier when they had charged in blindly. Naruto hadn't even thrown a punch in the first couple of minutes, and that scared the girls somewhat. Seeing that the girls were refusing to do anything, wanting Naruto to make the first move, he ran a hand through his hair.

"Seems like I've got to make the first move," he said as he put his arms into a weird position that was unfamiliar to the girls. The effect was not instantaneous but slowly grew as the moisture in the air around them began to expand and become thick, blurring their vision. "Kirigakure no Jutsu," he said before he became completely concealed within the mist.

"Stay close girls," commanded Ino as the three students put their backs to one another, unable to see more than only a couple of feet in front of them.

...

"Impressive," said Hiashi at the blanket of mist hanging in front of the crowd of shinobi, their eyes unable to penetrate the thick fog.

"Where did this mist come from father?" asked Hanabi reaching out to it tentatively.

"Normally for somebody to execute the Hidden Mist Technique, they need to use the water from a lake or river," explained Hiashi. "However it is possible that if enough chakra is used that the mist can form from the moisture in the air, since it needs a constant flow of chakra if they do it in this way it can be quite tiresome on the user. I'm not quite sure where Naruto learnt this technique as it is unique to Kirigakure."

"So Hinata can see through it with her Byakugan, right father?" asked Hanabi.

"In the point of a normal user, yes," said Hiashi. "Water is not Naruto's central elemental affinity however, so despite having to put a lot of chakra into the jutsu just to make it appear, the fact he has to put in yet even more chakra is impressive by all means. Since the air is filled with so much chakra, it makes vision with the Byakugan limited as it creates a... how can I put this, a cloud of chakra particles since one needs to be maintaining a constant flow of chakra for this technique to be effective. While you may only be able to see five or eight feet around you, I would be able to see twenty due to my experience and chakra reserves."

"So it's a battle of chakra," summarised Hiashi's youngest daughter.

"You can put it like that Hanabi but I will tell you one thing right now, nobody in this village can hope to match the amount of chakra Naruto has, Hinata cannot win this battle with sight," said Hiashi making Hanabi turn back towards the mist, hoping for a faint glimpse of something.

...

"I'm scared," said Hinata with her back pressed firmly against those of Sakura and Ino's.

"Tell me about it," said Ino as she looked around wildly, chills running down her spine. A shadow leapt over the top of them causing all of their heads to shoot up at once.

"Was that him?" asked Sakura as another shadow appeared in front of her before vanishing deeper into the mist. "He's on this side," she alerted.

"No he's not, I just saw him on this side," said Ino.

"He's probably using his shadow clones to try and lure us away from one another," said Sakura.

"Don't leave my side, Sakura, Hinata," asked Ino.

"No way in hell," said Sakura boldly. The claim however was not backed up by Hinata, prompting both girls to look at where the girl had been standing to find that she was no longer there.

"Where did she go?" asked Ino in a fret as she looked around desperately. She then turned back to Sakura, ready to ask the girl to help her look for the Hyūga Princess when she found that her best friend had also vanished. Before she could so much as think of screaming in fright a soft hand covered her mouth as she was pulled deeper into the mist.

...

Hinata breathed heavily through her nose due to the fact that her mouth was currently covered. Despite the fact she had been dragged away from Ino and Sakura it hadn't been done so roughly, the kidnapper had been quite gentle about it. "It would be such a shame if someone as beautiful as you is forced to fight for no real reason," said Naruto peacefully, his breath sending chills down the base of her spine. "There are so many more things which could happen without anybody being able to see."

"L-l-like what?" stuttered Hinata as the hand on her mouth was removed.

"Use your imagination," said Naruto as he rubbed his hand over Hinata's stomach before slipping underneath the garments, Hinata happy she was facing the other way so that her blush couldn't be seen. "I won't do anything you don't want me to," said Naruto as he began to take his shirt out of the clothing confines only for Hinata to grab his hand and hold it in place.

"I-I-I want you t-t-t-t..." she stuttered uncontrollably as she struggled to get out the words she was trying to say.

"Say no more, just guide my hands," he said resting his spare hand next to the hand already on her chest. As Hinata reached for the hands, little did she know that the other two girls were getting a very similar treatment at the hands of two clones who were showing very similar signs of affection. Hinata grabbed Naruto's hands, slowly sliding them onto her bare skin as Naruto's fingertips, gently glided over her skin.

AS he continued to rub her stomach, he leant closer so that his mouth was right next to her ear. "Surely you can think of somewhere better these hands could be making these movements," he whispered seductively as Hinata 'eeped' at the thought. Yet the mist was so thick that nobody would be able to see them, but did that mean it was okay. "My hands are yours to control, do with them as you wish."

That finishing sentence got Hinata much more enticed and she lifted his hands, higher and higher up her shirt before they quickly retracted. "What are you doing?" whispered Hinata before she felt her coat being taken off of her shoulders.

"It's getting in the way," he whispered before putting his hands back under her shirt. "Where were we?" With confidence, Hinata grabbed Naruto's hands and lifted them to the base of her breasts, where she shrieked lightly at the touch.

"Sensitive are we?" said Naruto lifting his fingers before grabbing her perky nipples, already hard, through her thin bra, tweaking them ever so slightly. That was all the stimulation Hinata needed before her mind overloaded and she collapsed, a bright red flush spread over her face. Naruto managed to catch her before she hit the ground, placing her gently on the grass before laying her coat over the top of her. His other two clones dispelled and Naruto laughed at the thoughts that these three were going to be exchanging very different stories later on, hopefully over a bowl of ramen. He always loved it when lovely ladies such as the ones around him came in for lunch.

Deactivating his jutsu, the mist soon cleared and the battlefield was soon seen by the public, only to find Naruto standing in the middle with three girls collapsed all around him. Yet despite having been in a 'battle,' none of them showed any sign of injury and they were all unconscious with a smile on their face.

"I believe that the battle has been won," said Sarutobi from the sidelines, making everybody curious about what the hell had just happened in the middle of all the mist. Tenten looked at the battle scene and smirked, having lost in a similar way many months earlier when she had requested a spar. That was the best 'fight' she had ever had.

"Good luck you two," said Kakashi ushering the two remaining Genin forward.

"Do we have to?" asked Shikamaru only to receive a light slap behind the back of the head from Sasuke as the girls were carried out of the battleground, all of them mumbling happy thoughts. "You made your point."

"So we've got the Sasuke and a Nara from the looks of it," said Naruto noticing his next two opponents. "Shikaku's son Shikamaru, correct?"

"It seems you know of my father," said Shikamaru lazily looking over at his old man.

"He loves bragging about how smart you are when he's drunk."

"That doesn't surprise me," said Shikamaru with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Are we going to do this?" asked Sasuke becoming impatient, the longer he was here the further away from the gambling den he was, especially after having won so much money the previous night with Naruto's tips.

"Alright then," said Naruto as Sasuke glided into his stance, likewise was the Uzumaki boy while Shikamaru stood there unfazed. "Whenever you're ready."

That was all the motivation Sasuke needed before he sprung forward.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Ryousanki: Character development is one of the things I try to focus on most of all, whether the story is Harem based or not.**

**Bakapervert: He's strong yes, whether or not he's as strong as an 'S' ranked criminal is not likely though.**

**Raptor2001: If you think Sasuke's gambling problem is funny, wait until the rest of the genin get introduced to the lawless zone.**

**Brian Stentzel: I was wondering when you would find this fic and add your two cents. Those two cents are valuable though and our points are noted and ready for use if the need arises (which it probably will).**

**I have a question for all of you guys reading this, how is it possible to have over 200 favourites and 200 alerts yet only barely scrape past the 50 review mark? C'mon people, let me hear your opinions, I thrive on reviews whether they be good or bad. Throw those reviews at me!**

**Peace out.**


	6. Interruption

"Oh my god," said Tenten as she covered her mouth, gasping in shock at the scene in front of her. The battle had been quick, Shikamaru having been taken out by a clone which had been lying in wait which he had placed while the mist he has created had covered the field. It had been a real tactical move on his part and one that even the genius Nara hadn't anticipated. Just like that it had become a one on one scenario with the last Uchiha and Uzumaki Naruto. Yet before the first blow could be struck, this had to happen.

...

"We will not stand for this Sandaime-sama," said Koharu Utatene as she stood in front of the third Hokage, the entire half of the civilian council standing proudly behind her. One of the members had been brazen enough to stand in front of Sasuke in a protective stance. Sasuke wanted to shout at the man to find out what was going on but a hand on his shoulder caused him to turn around and see Homura Mitokade looking down at him.

"What's the meaning of this?" asked Sasuke who was wondering why his fight had been temporarily disbanded.

"We will not let this beast harm you," said the civilian staring directly at Naruto, a cold hatred slowly forming in Naruto's eyes.

"Been a long time, hasn't it," said Naruto keeping his eyes in front of him.

"Indeed it has boy," replied the cold voice of Danzo Shimura from behind him, the young teenager having been able to sense him as soon as he appeared despite making a sound. Naruto knew why he was there, it wasn't to protect him, it was to prevent him from doing anything regrettable. "I should let you know that it wasn't my idea to put a stop to this fight."

"Of course it wouldn't be, I blame the hag," chuckled Naruto indicating the elderly woman who was having a one way shouting contest with the leader of the village.

"Apparently one of the council members overheard some of the shinobi coming here saying that you were going to be fighting the rookies, it was brought to our attention and here we are," said Danzo in a placid tone, keeping his emotions hidden. "Frankly I'd love to see out beat the shit out of the boy, much like how I imagine you dealt with the rest of them. However, the rest of the council is iffy on the subject due to your condition."

"You know," started Naruto as he turned around, a snarl now shown on his face, "I really hate the way you make it sound like I'm dying from some disease. Years ago when you made me that offer you said the same word, 'condition.' I'm not sick, I don't need to be cured and it's not something that I need any help with."

With his back turned to Sasuke, the man who had been standing in front of the Uchiha boy started sprinting towards Naruto, pulling a knife out of his pocket. "Naruto!" shouted Sasuke in warning as the man edged ever closer. Having heard both the warning and the man running towards him, Naruto's hands flashed though three symbols before a distinct chirping noise filled the air, silencing everything else on the field.

...

"Naruto," said Kakashi softly looking away from the scene, very aware of what was about to happen.

"Isn't that your move Kakashi?" asked Kurenai looking at the copy-nin only to find his shoulders slumped and in a somewhat depressed state, his book hanging limply by his side.

"We need to do something!" said Asuma springing into action, hoping that he would get there in time, many other ninjas on the field fearing the same thing. Hiashi wanted to leap forward and potentially stop Naruto by blocking the tenketsu in his arm but opted to turn Hanabi around and shield her eyes from what was about to happen.

...

As the knife descended towards the boy's back, a triumphant smile spread across the man's lips. "Die KYU..."

That was as far as he had gotten before Naruto had turned around, driving his attack through the heart of the man who had attempted to attacked him. Sparks of lightning still surrounded his fingers as blood splashed across the ground as the man's breathing came to an abrupt halt. "Still as violent as ever," said Danzo unfazed by what had happened.

"He was about to break the third's law, it was in my right," said Naruto, a cold tone to his voice as the shinobi who had been rushing to prevent him from doing anything stopped where they were, already realising it was too late.

"That's the only reason why you won't be going to prison over this, the man practically shouted it out," said Danzo slightly amused. "It's still amazing to see that despite having no blood limit you are able to use every basic jutsu type. Although with your client it would be obvious you would get some sort of benefit."

"I know you're fucking goading me Danzo," said Naruto as he yanked his arm free, the lifeless body slumping to the ground in a heap as blood continued to pour out of the open wound. "I would be careful if you don't want it to be your blood on this arm."

"I'd like to see you try," said Danzo as Naruto started to walk away. Sasuke had watched the scene in horror, despite having been able to simply dodge the attack Naruto had killed the man without a second's hesitation. As the blonde haired kid walked past, Sasuke could see the cold hatred within his eyes, a look similar to the last one his brother had ever given him. Naruto stopped next to the black haired boy and sighed as if a great burden had been lifted off his back as he stared at the ground, Homura watching closely for any signs that anything might happen. As Naruto lifted his head to look at Sasuke, the cold hatred that had been there before had vanished and the cheery disposition was once again visible.

"Guess our match is postponed," he said rubbing the back of his head, rubbing wet blood all through his hair.

"So it is," said Sasuke, wondering if this boy could help him with what he needed to achieve. He knew that when he finally confronted his brother he couldn't doubt himself and hesitate otherwise it would be him who ended up getting killed. However, he figured that now would probably not be the best time to ask for anything.

"You'll be lucky if you ever set a foot near the last Uchiha again," said Homura sternly, staring down at the teenager.

"I'm free to do what I want," snapped Sasuke, having hated being a pawn for the council. For years they had controlled what he did in order to preserve the Sharingan, however he had found freedom in the ninja academy and with his team, something which the council had little say in.

"See, if he comes and attacks me, I'm not responsible," said Naruto as he resumed walking. He could hear Homura warning Sasuke about the dangers of being around him but he paid it no attention. He looked over at Sarutobi to see him being yelled at by members of the council who now wanted Naruto's head on a silver platter. He chuckled slightly before he created ten clones of himself.

"Go open and close shop for the night, two guards," he explained.

"What are you going to do boss?" asked one of the clones.

"I need some time alone," said Naruto in a placid tone. "Anyways I need to get ready for tomorrow."

"Yes Boss!" saluted the clones before they ran off into the trees towards town as the crowds began to part. Naruto stood in the centre of the field with his head hanging down before he felt a tug on his pants. Looking down he saw a young Hyūga girl standing there looking up at him.

"Are you alright?" she asked, noticing the blood on his arm.

"I'm not physically hurt," said Naruto concealing half the truth, not very well though.

"So you're hurting on the inside," she said.

"You pick up on these things rather quick," said Naruto smiling. "What's your name?"

"Hanabi Hyūga, I'm Hinata's sister," she introduced with a slight curtsey out of respect.

"Don't show those sort of manners towards me, I'm not worth them," said Naruto brushing it off.

"Aren't you meant to bow to people you respect?" asked Hanabi confused.

"You need to find a better role model," said Naruto as he shook her hair lightly with the hand that wasn't covered in blood. "Thank you for cheering me up but I've got some things to take care of."

"It was nice meeting you Naruto-kun," said Hanabi politely.

"Likewise Hanabi-chan," said Naruto before he leapt away, a small breeze causing Hanabi's clothes to sway side to side. With a smile spread across her face she turned around and walked back to where her father was standing, wondering if she'd ever see the blonde haired boy again.

...

"Sakura, Sakura," said Ino as she gently rocked her friend from side to side.

"P-please, more," mumbled Sakura in a dazed state before her eyes shot open and she sat up. "What the, where are we?"

"We got beaten, but I've got to say that it was worth it," said Ino as she rolled her shoulders.

"So worth it," mumbled Hinata as she got up from her resting place, Kiba, Chouji and Shino all still unconscious from their fight. "His hands..." she started before her face began to burn up.

"I know, that was the best massage I've ever had," exclaimed Ino stretching.

"Massage?" said Sakura in surprise.

"Yeah, when he asked me to put his hands somewhere I placed them on my shoulder blades, his fingers were magical," said Ino as if in a trance. "What, did you guys get something different?"

"S-same offer," said Hinata looking away.

"Y-yea," agreed Sakura as she looked over into the distance.

"Well where did you two put his hands?" asked the blonde haired girl, however neither of her friends were really willing to say anything. With a sigh she stepped in front of Hinata and held her hands out. "Alright Hinata, two options. Option A is that I search through your memories and find out what happened or Option B is you place my hands where you placed his. Your choice."

Hinata quickly burned up at the thought of Ino searching through her memories, despite the fact she wasn't even sure if she could perform the technique. Timidly she grabbed Ino's wrists and placed them on the base of her breast, squeaking slightly at the touch. "R-r-right h-here," she stuttered, almost ashamed of what she had done.

"Wow, you're so bold Hinata, I wish I'd have thought of that," said Ino before she turned towards Sakura who was almost as red as a tomato. "Alright Sakura, same choices, you want to go with option A or B?"

Sakura swallowed, wondering what the chances of a successful runaway would be at this time. Swallowing her pride she grabbed Ino's left wrist and placed it directly on her stomach. "That's it?" asked Ino as she waved her spare hand around. Sakura closed her eyes after grabbing Ino's hand and lead it south, the blonde's hand being placed directly underneath her skirt. Ino quickly yanked her hand back as her jaw dropped significantly as Hinata reached breaking point and passed out.

"Don't stop now," said Tenten causing Sakura and Ino to turn around in shock, looking at the brown haired girl who seemed to have just appeared out of nowhere while the girls had been, 'discussing' the fight. "C'mon, it's just getting to the good part."

Needless to say that Ino and Sakura easily matched the shade of red that Hinata was able to achieve.

...

**Hope you enjoyed, you'll have to wait a bit longer for the fight between Naruto and Sasuke.**

**Daniel 29: The lawless quirks are going to be fun to figure out, Sasuke with a gambling problem is just the start.**

**I'm Solo: Tayuya... not really sure how I could put her in, especially at this point.**

**Kakarot Son: Hanabi is currently eight years old while Naruto is thirteen. When Naruto quit he was ten years old and was Chūnin rank, although he was expected to pass the Jōnin exams which were going to be held just after he quit.**

**Junky: I try to be original in some points at least.**

**Peace out!**


	7. Gathering

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way shape or form.**

**...**

Hanabi stood among the Hyūga clan as they prepared to leave the battlefield. She looked across the area as ninja's made their way back to their homes, to the bar, and to go eat ramen respectively. A few of the unlucky shinobi had the task of removing the body which none of them looked pleased to do. However her keen eyes picked up the katana and sheath that Naruto had placed on the ground earlier before the bouts had began. She ran towards it, despite her father's worrisome cries before picking up the blade, enjoying the feel of it in her hands.

When she returned to the group, her eyes raised to look at her father. "Where does Naruto-kun live?" she asked of Hiashi. "I wish to return his weapon to him personally." Hanabi knew that she had to add the word personally to the sentence otherwise her father would hand it to one of the branch members to take in her stead. Hiashi smiled as she gave her the address, hoping that Naruto might be able to help Hanabi by providing suitable motivation and show her that not all geniuses come from well known clans.

...

"So which one of you is the original one?" asked Kiba as he nailed a plank of wood into place, the customers having died down slowly, after the fight had abruptly concluded the store had failed to bring in a great deal of customers. Kiba had found out what had happened from his mother and since he had had to go see Naruto later on in the day to fix up the bench like promised. He was contemplating not going but knew that if his mother found out about him breaking his word then he would never hear the end of it.

"None of us," replied the clone as he cleaned glassware, waving goodbye to a couple of girls as they left. "Boss went off to have some quite time."

"What happened, I mean mum told me that he...killed someone but, he was in the right, wasn't he?" asked Kiba unsure if he was making any sense or not.

"It's not so much about that, it's more because he let his emotions get the better of him," explained the clone as it put down the mug it had finished cleaning. "Everyone's got shadows in the closet, boss just so happens to have a graveyard full of them. He's had more happen to him within the past eight years then you'll likely have in the rest of your life." Kiba could tell by the sound in the clone's voice, he wasn't over exaggerating it.

"Could you tell me why he stopped being a ninja?" asked Kiba.

"It's not our place to say," said another clone carrying a batch of dirty bowls. "Although don't push for answers out of him otherwise you may regret it." Kiba swallowed nervously at that statement before proceeding with his job, suddenly filled with the urge to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible. Unfortunately this resulted in him accidentally hitting his forefinger with the hammer, resulting in very painful consequences.

"Fuck that hurt," he complained in a loud voice, shaking it to try and numb the pain. Akamaru grumbled quietly, upset after having been rudely awoken from his after dinner nap.

"I've got something for that," said the clone searching behind the bar. "Where is it? I know boss left it around here somewhere. Ah, here we go."

Kiba expected the clone to pull up a roll of bandages or something along those lines. It was a roll, but not what he was expecting. "What the hell is that?" he groaned through the pain in his hand.

"Medicinal Marijuana," explained the clone holding up the hand rolled paper stick. "It's somewhat medicinal at least, last time Boss had one he forgot about all the pain he'd ever felt."

"It smells familiar," said Kiba sniffing around the rolled up joint. He snapped his good fingers together when he recognised it as what the man had offered him the other day. Since he, like his family, had an incredible sense of smell he could pick up the similar scent despite this one not being lit. "So I nearly took that guy's medicine away from him, I feel bad now."

"Well, it's got medicinal properties but that doesn't mean that it's just used as for medicine," said the Naruto clone rubbing the back of the head. "Most people in the lawless zone take it because it's an illegal drug which makes you feel better."

"Why again are you offering this to me?" asked Kiba unsure of what was going on anymore.

"Because he's an idiot," said another one of the clones walking past.

"Fine it was a bad idea," said the clone as it put the roll back under the counter.

"How much does that stuff usually cost?" asked Kiba curiously.

"Cheapest stuff you can find around here is ten grams for about two hundred, quality stuff can cost upwards of five thousand for ten grams," explained the clone. "Also depends on who's selling it and how rare it is."

"That's a lot to think about," said Kiba as he got back to work, hammering in the final nail. "There we go, all done."

"Cheers for that, Boss will be happy when he gets back from his trip."

"What trip?"

"Don't worry about it, anyways, we've got to close up now so we'll catch you around," said the clone as he gave Akamaru a final pat before going and helping his fellow clones in the kitchen.

"C'mon boy, let's go," he said placing the pup within the V of his jacket, ensuring that Akamaru would be safe and warm on the walk back. Just before he reached the alleyway to head back into the law abiding part of the city he stopped and sniffed the air. Following his nose, he went through a couple of side alleys before he came across three men sitting down, each one smoking marijuana.

"What do you want kid," said the only person who wasn't puffing away, startling Kiba a little bit. Kiba could smell the drug strongly on the man's body, still fresh and unburnt.

"I want some of whatever they're smoking," he said pointing to the guys on the ground, one of whom was now staring at his hand as if it was the strangest object he had ever seen.

"Sure you can handle it runt?" asked the man opening his jacket to show several bags of the stuff dangling in the breeze. Just the smell of it was enough to get Kiba excited at the possibilities.

"Try me," he said, his hands now full of cash.

...

Naruto sat alone atop the Hokage monument, his face expressionless as he stared at the sunset as it painted an orange glow over the city. Looking at his hand, he could still see specks of blood that had refused to come off when he had washed it. With a sigh he leant backwards allowing gravity to push his body onto the soft grass beneath him, allowing him to stare at the clouds in the sky without intrusion as memories started to reappear.

"_Run, that's an order!"_

"_No, I'll stand and fight alongside you guys."_

"_Then you'll die alongside us, we'll hold them off as long as we can while you get as far away from here as you can. Don't make me say it again, RUN!"_

Naruto hated that memory with a passion, so much so that he had asked Inoichi Yamanaka to erase it from his memory. The request had been denied however with Inoichi explaining that it would help him become stronger. It was only a week later that he quit being a ninja, his conscience heavy with guilt, despite having followed orders. Whether or not his help would have been any good at all or if he would have just been in the way, he couldn't tell. He wasn't cocky enough to believe that he was undefeatable, far from it in fact.

Naruto pushed himself back into a seated position to look over the village, knowing that with the death of a council member he would be looked at once again with distaste and fear. No doubt he would lose some customers at the shop as well but he had to brush that to the side. Standing up, he allowed the wind to blow across his body, his hair swaying slightly with the breeze. With a sigh, he turned around and began the slow trek back to his house.

...

Uchiha Sasuke sat on the porch of his house, his mind processing everything that had occurred with the past twenty four hours. The ups included the fact that he had won a nice sum of money at the gambling corner with Naruto's guidelines. He didn't dare take a chance of trying anymore than what he had been told as for each time he followed it with his eyes, the one that Naruto had instructed him to choose was different altogether. He didn't know how he did it and that's what made it all the more interesting.

The major down point of the day had been the fact that he had been refused allowance to fight the blonde haired teenager due to the fact that the council believed he may have gotten injured. He wasn't sure whether to curse them or thank them after seeing Naruto kill the man without so much as blinking.

Having only done 'D' ranked missions inside of the village, Sasuke was unsure of what exactly awaited him outside the walls of Konoha. He knew that at the pinnacle of what he needed to achieve was the strength to defeat his brother, however the climb from the skill level he was at now to the one he needed to reach was not going to be easy by any standard. Kakashi was good as a teacher; however he understood that he couldn't focus on Sasuke alone and leave both Kiba and Sakura behind. He had heard about the Chūnin exams and that it was a team event for the most part, so he couldn't allow Kakashi to give him special treatment, not like the lazy Jōnin would anyway. His thoughts then flowed back to the blonde haired teenager and the possibilities that he could create, especially once he had his Sharingan activated.

A cool breeze swept over his body as he stood up and moved inside, his mind now having moved to both the food he was going to eat and the 'C' ranked mission he needed to prepare for.

...

"Hinata?" said Naruto in disbelief as he saw the Hyūga princess standing outside his door.

"Naruto-kun," replied Hinata with a bow, a broad smile across her face which caused Naruto's mind to tick over a few facts without being noticed.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he stepped up to the front of the door before reaching under the doormat and pulling out the key.

"I brought this back for you," explained Hinata holding up the katana. "I noticed that you left it back at the field."

"Cheers for that," said Naruto happily as he took the katana in one hand while his other hand pushed open the door. "Would you like to come in, I can make you something to eat?" he offered.

"That would be great," replied Hinata as she walked through the door, Naruto following close behind, shutting the door behind him.

...

"So where are we going?" asked Ino as the girls walked down the street.

"We're going to go have dinner," explained Tenten. "We're going to go have some of Naruto's ramen."

"So he's really a ramen chef?" asked Ino remembering him as introducing himself as the second best ramen chef in Konoha.

"One of the best there is," said Tenten with a smile.

"Isn't the shop closed now?" asked Sakura noticing the fact that day had officially turned into night.

"Who said we were going to the shop," said Tenten turning to face the girls. "After all the juicy gossip you gave me we're going straight to his house."

"Isn't it rude to rock up unannounced?" asked Sakura.

"He won't mind," said Tenten brushing the question off.

"Are you sure we're talking about the same Naruto here?" asked Ino.

"Coming from the girl who only used a golden opportunity to get a massage of all things," mocked Tenten causing the other girls to look away in a blush. "C'mon Hinata, you're going to go to Naruto's place, perhaps things can get even more entertaining."

"P-please d-don't say stuff l-like that Tenten-san," said Hinata trying to cover the redness of her cheeks.

"C'mon then, the quicker we get there the quicker excitement can begin. Now hurry, to the lawless zone!" shouted Tenten before running off, leaving the girls to either get left behind or to catch up.

...

"So Hinata, what would you say you're younger sister is like?" asked Naruto as he worked away in the kitchen.

"My younger sister?" asked Hinata as she sat patiently at the table.

"Yes, she came to me after I had beaten Sasuke to a pulp and it got me curious," said Naruto as he created a clone to continue to work as he made his way into the dining area.

"But you never beat Sasuke up," said Hinata as a smile crossed Naruto's lips as he edged ever closer.

"Right, silly me," said Naruto lightly shaking his head. "That creates the question however, how do you know that I didn't beat Sasuke when you were unconscious the whole time." Hinata's mind opened and shut several times as beads of sweat formed on her brow before Naruto flicked her harshly in the forehead, forcefully removing the henge. "Next time you create a henge Hanabi be sure to have your entire story set."

"Was it that obvious?" asked Hanabi as she rubbed the top of her head.

"Well first off I don't think Hinata would be able to look at me with a straight face after the way I defeated her in the fight," explained Naruto. "I was going to ask you how I defeated Hinata but you might be a bit young for that."

"Whatever Hinata did I can do just as good," boasted Hanabi. "Just because I'm young doesn't mean I'm weaker than my sister."

"I don't think its physical weakness," chuckled Naruto.

"You used a genjutsu on her!" exclaimed Hanabi pointing a finger at the blonde.

"If only, I only know the one genjutsu and it's not that powerful," admitted Naruto. The technique he was talking about wasn't that hard to break out of, depending upon the amount of chakra he poured into the technique and how much chakra the person tried to utilise in breaking out. Most the time however the people he used it on didn't want to be released. "Your young adolescent mind can't begin to comprehend the horrendous acts which I did to your sister along with Sakura and, for some reason Ino, that made all three pass out."

"Stop treating me like a child," said Hanabi in annoyance, pushing her chair back as she stood up, trying to look down at Naruto despite being a foot shorter.

"Then what do you want me to treat you like?" asked Naruto with a coy smile.

"Like an adult, so what if I'm young! I'm stronger than Hinata, I'm more mature and I believe I can handle whatever technique that you used on her," she claimed pointing at Naruto. His smile only broadened at the claim before he reached forward and grabbed the front of Hanabi's robes and yanked her forward, planting his lips solidly upon hers. Hanabi's scream was muffled as she felt Naruto's tongue roam around her mouth, the slippery limb dancing with her own. She futilely beat at his arms but her attacks became weaker and weaker as she found herself enjoying the sensation the kiss brought. Draping her arms around Naruto's neck, she leapt off the ground and wrapped her legs around his waist, letting instinct take over. She started to kiss back, her tongue dancing with his as he lent onto the table, rolling in such a way that Hanabi was now lying flat on her back as his hands began to press against her petite breasts, his touch sending waving spirals through her system.

He broke the kiss, allowing Hanabi to moan in ecstasy as he began to plant soft lips upon her neck. "Hanabi!" exclaimed Hinata, causing her sister to turn and look in the direction of the entrance to find Sakura, Hinata, Ino and a brown haired girl looking at her in shock and disgust. Fear crept over her features as she looked to Naruto for support to find that he wasn't there despite her still feeling pressure on her breasts, which to her discovery was her own hands which had literally destroyed her family robe.

"Congratulations, you fell victim to Naruto's one and only genjutsu," said Tenten forcing Hanabi to sit upright and look away from them, covering herself up as best she could.

"We have more guests," said Naruto appearing through the kitchen doorway, causing Hanabi's face to go bright red as she looked away in shame. "Guess I'll have to fix up a bigger bowl."

"Before you do that," said Ino causing everyone to look at her as Hinata comforted her sister, "Can I make a request?"

"By all means," said Naruto curiously.

"C-could you put me under the same genjutsu," she said at a lightning rate, the others only just able to make out what she had said.

"No," said Naruto plainly causing her jaw to drop.

"Why not?" asked Ino.

Naruto turned around, as if heading for the kitchen before looking over his shoulder at the ensemble girls who had gathered. "After dinner's when the real fun begins," he said with a cheeky smile.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Raptor2001: When Sasuke meets Tsunade all hell will break loose, gamblers united in booze and cards.**

**Leaf Ranger: Tayuya surviving should be easy enough...I think. For some reason I can see her with Shino and I have no idea why.**

**Jigoku no Yami: It would be hard for Sasuke to balance an active lifestyle of owning a gaming house and being a shinobi at the same time and somehow I don't think he's going to try and defeat Itachi in a game of cards...or is he?**

**YoukoTaichou: By all means make suggestions but it doesn't mean that they will be added, just placed in the consideration pile.**

**Brian Stetzel: I think this chapter made you happy ;)**

**You probably won't see another update in a while as I've got my final uni essays due within the next couple of weeks. Expect a return around the 21****st****. Ja Ne. **


	8. Embarrassing Memories

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

...

"CLOSED!" exclaimed Anko in shock as she stared at the sign in front of her, the hand written note the only explanation as to why her favourite food bar (apart from the wonderful joys of Dango) wasn't open. Reading the paper, she mumbled the important parts as her eyes glided through the writing. "Heading out of town...picking up ingredients...be back in TWO WEEKS!"

It was at that moment when Anko dropped to her knees, expecting rain to start falling overhead as she realised she wasn't going to see her favourite Gaki for at least two weeks.

...

The walk back to the Hyūga compound was a long one for Hinata, her mind racing over the events that had transpired last night and how she should explain them to her father. It had been the first time she had ever spent the night outside of the family household and as such she feared that she was going to be severely punished for her actions, especially since she hadn't told anybody what she was planning on doing in the first place.

"Hinata," said a voice from nearby alerting the Hyūga princess. Turning around, she found herself looking at her sensei and Shino walking towards her, once again her third teammate was nowhere to be seen.

"Kurenai-sensei, Shino-san," said Hinata politely as her team stopped in front of her.

"We've just been by the Hyūga compound looking for you, although from talking to the guards it appears your sister is quite sick, do you know what might have caused this?" asked Kurenai.

Hinata swallowed nervously as she shook her head from side to side despite knowing exactl what had happened. Kurenai seemed to realise that this wasn't something that the young Hyūga wished to talk about. "Anyway, you need to head home and pack enough equipment for two weeks, we've got a C ranked mission," explained Kurenai.

"C rank...but what about," said Hinata indicating towards where the final member of their team should have been, especially for something as important as a C ranked mission.

"He's still ill, we're not quite sure how long it will be until he recovers," explained Shino. "However this mission is a double up, we are teaming up with another team to execute two missions at the same time. Apparently this is to help us rookies enter the ninja world with little stress."

"I see..." said Hinata deep in thought. "W-what other team are we partnered with?"

"Team 7."

...

Sakura stood awkwardly in the middle of the Hokage tower as she and her team waited for their clients and the team that would be joining them. Her hands nervously fiddled around with the hem of her skirt, her clothes slightly torn from the previous nights activities of which were fresh on her mind. Once again Sake had played a major part and despite how young Hanabi had been she too had joined in the fun until she had fallen asleep on her sister's lap. Sadly her petite frame and young age were unaccustomed to the alcohol and Sakura imagined she would be nursing quite a severe headache earlier that morning. Unlike her however, Hanabi had been taken home by a Naruto clone while she and the other girls ended up staying the night at the boy's house. Once again she had found herself in his bed although the number of people within had increased since the previous night but she had found herself a lot more comfortable with the situation.

"Hey Sakura!" exclaimed Tenten as she and her team walked in for a mission, no look of misfortune upon the brunette's face. It even seemed that Tenten hadn't bothered to head home after the night's antics, her clothes still having a strong smell of alcohol upon them along with several stains which created a unique pattern on her shirt.

"Such beauty!" exclaimed Lee dressed in his usual green spandex who was standing beside her, identical to the one worn by an identical older version who had run across to Kakashi.

"Thanks?" said Sakura nervously, slightly afraid of the boy. Standing next to them was a Hyūga, who unlike his teammates seemed to be wearing a scowl, whether because of the boy's actions or personality Sakura wasn't sure.

"Don't worry about them," said Tenten stepping forward before inhaling deeply through her nose before giggling. "Is that lavender I smell?" she asked causing Sakura to look away as a blush quickly spread across her face, unnoticed by the boys as their attention had turned to the one sided conversation between the two senseis. "I never thought that they would have smelt like that."

"Tenten!" exclaimed Sakura in a hushed whisper turning away from the friend only for the brown haired girl to drape her arms over Sakura's shoulders in an impromptu hug.

"You two were going at it so hard last night and neither of you wanted to share," whispered Tenten, her tongue flicking across the base of Sakura's ear sending shivers down the girl's spine. "After what happened it was no surprise that they would leap at you, but the way that you reacted was priceless. We could re-enact the show here for everyone right here, wouldn't that be a show for the Hokage." Sakura wanted to voice her opinion against the idea but after having had another pair of lips pressed against hers time and time again she couldn't help but wonder if the sensation would be similar with Tenten. Clearly her lack of speech also made it easier for Tenten to understand. "You naughty girl," she said turning Sakura around and bopping her lightly on the bridge of the nose with her forefinger before closing the distance between them. "I'll test your technique after you get back from your mission."

With a sly smile, Tenten walked away deliberately swaying her hips seductively, causing Sakura to flush even more. "Are you alright?" asked Kiba as he rubbed his nose at a fast pace, Tenten's team leaving as the Hyūga had gotten the mission while their sensei complained to Kakashi. "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," said Sakura forcing a smile which seemed to be enough for the Inuzuka. "What was with that weird sensei before? I know we saw them back at the ramen bar but what did they want?"

"Apparently he is sensei's eternal rival or something along those lines, he kept screaming on about things like the power of youth, I'm surprised you didn't hear it," said Kiba in response.

"I was distracted," said Sakura, not going into detail.

"So where's the team that's taking me to Wave?" asked a gruff voice causing team seven to turn around and find an elderly man standing there, work tools slung over his shoulder and a flask in his hand.

"That would be us," said Kakashi causing the man to look at them with distaste.

"I'm meant to be guarded a one eyed man and three kids, the dog's probably got better luck of getting me there safely than these guys," he said out loud, insulting them to a certain degree.

"If you wanted better ninjas you should have paid better money," said Sasuke which irked the man somewhat, but he remained silent.

"Now we have to wait for the second team to arrive and the second client and you'll be set," said Sarutobi with a sigh, knowing that shit may very well hit the fan within a couple of minutes.

"I've been meaning to ask about that," said Sasuke gathering attention. "When we were first informed about this mission, you never told us who the second client was but had Kakashi take us to the Ramen Bar. Were we meant to rendezvous with someone there?"

"I believe you've already met him," said the Sandaime causing all three of the genin to look at him awkwardly. Slow realisation began to dawn across their features as they began to realise just who they were escorting.

"Shouldn't he be fine by himself?" asked Kiba, Akamaru yipping in approval.

"Be that as it may, he made the request and as such it is our duty as shinobi to fulfil it," said Sarutobi. "You should know that he actually requested a rookie team to take him." This information was interesting to Sasuke and wondered what the blonde person had in store for them. At that moment, the door opened behind them causing the group to turn around and a severe blush to cross Sakura's face as her gaze fell upon the person Tenten had been talking about and the blonde hair that was all too familiar.

...

"_When I get all steamed up hear me shout, tip me over, poor me out," finished Hinata embarrassingly, having completed the task Naruto had given her. After Hanabi had been taken home, the group had opted for a game of spin the bottle and along with constant drinking had caused some hilarious effects. Sitting down with the group, Hinata span the bottle for it to land on Tenten._

"_Alright Hinata, give me something fun," said Tenten, rubbing her hands together excitedly._

"_U-um," said Hinata as she tried to think of something to do. "Tenten-san, you have to...u-um...do a handstand for five minutes against the wall?" Her statement ended up coming out as more of a question but Tenten nodded in approval before trying to execute a handstand, only to stumble and hit the ground hard._

"_Are you alright?" asked Sakura, choking slightly on the Sake she had been drinking._

"_I'm fine!" said Tenten through a fit of giggles before crawling towards the wall and performing her handstand with the full knowledge that after five minutes mixed with the amount of alcohol she had drunk and the blood rushing to her head she was going to be feeling under the weather._

"_I'll go while we're waiting!" said Ino cheerfully as she grabbed the bottle and spun it forcibly, the nozzle stopping on her fellow blonde in Naruto._

"_Alright Ino, what do I got to do," said Naruto not entirely thinking straight._

"_Place me under the genjutsu that you put Hanabi-chan under earlier," she proclaimed. Naruto sighed, knowing that he had to perform the technique and moments later, Ino was in the middle of a steamy make-out session after several cries of 'Stop it,' and 'Please.'_

"_Let me get this right," said Sakura putting her fingers to her head as if deep in concentration. "This genjutsu makes the victim believe that they're making out with you?"_

"_Not quite," said Naruto taking a sip from his sake. "It actually focuses on a single person in the room whom the user has connections with, it can't create somebody out of nothing. The reason Hanabi saw me was because I was the only other person. If there is more than one person in the room, it will either go towards the strongest connection or a romantic interest."_

"_Sa...Sa..." moaned Ino in-between imaginary kisses._

"_Figures she'd be making out with Sasuke," said Sakura as she lifted her Sake cup to her lips._

"_B-but Sasuke isn't here," pointed out Hinata._

"_Sakura!" screamed Ino as she began fondling with her breasts, causing the pink haired girl to send the alcohol out of her mouth in a spray of mist._

"_T-t-that's interesting," said Tenten from her position, swaying despite leaning against the wall._

_Sakura just sat there with flabbergasted, her jaw having dropped an inch in shock as her face burnt up something fierce. She only acted when Ino's fingers stopped pressing against her breast and started descending towards her womanhood, Sakura literally leaping from her position and knocking Ino to the ground. She believed that she had saved the day until she felt Ino's arm wrap itself around her neck as the hand which had been heading downwards was now placed on Sakura's breast, her fingers pressing tightly against the body part. Sakura's mouth opened in shock which only accelerated as Ino pulled her closer, causing Sakura's lips to crash against hers. Sakura could do nothing for several seconds as Ino's tongue roamed around the inside of her mouth. There was a solid thud from nearby as Tenten's concentration slipped and she hit the ground hard, but neither of the two girls noticed as Sakura began to kiss back, Ino's lips sending electricity down her body. It would be several minutes later when they broke the kiss and Ino slowly realised that somewhere along the line the genjutsu had stopped._

"_S-Sakura?" she asked of the pink haired girl lying on top of her._

"_Ino," breathed Sakura before realising exactly what had transpired, quickly climbing off the blonde haired teenager. As one the two girls looked around as if for answers only to find Tenten sitting there with a bowl of popcorn which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, Naruto staring as if in a trance and Hinata passed out with a steady trickle of blood leaking from her nose._

_..._

Both Team Seven and Team Ten looked on awkwardly as Ino and Sakura stood side by side in silence, unable to look one another in the eye despite being best friends. Shikamaru took a single look at the situation and despite realising something had gone wrong quickly deduced that it was too troublesome to try and delve into the reasons why the two girls were acting that way. Once again the door opened to allow a teenager with blonde hair to walk in, Naruto almost regretting it as he observed the situation in front of him, noticing the awkward silence he had broken with his entry. "I'll be waiting outside," he said before closing the door, sealing himself outside the room much to the confusion of all the males in the room.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Kakarot Son: Most of the time the clones display the single personality so I wanted to try and create a different type of setting with them bickering amongst one another.**

**Gaiseric: It appears that you are under the impression that Naruto will become a ninja at some point in the story, who says that he isn't content simply being a Ramen Chef?**

**Jigoku no Yami: Sasuke fighting with cards, I don't know why but I have this vision of him using cards instead of shuriken which serves to confuse his opponents so he can quickly finish them off.**

**YoukoTaichou: That's quite a list, many of which I don't know. We'll have to wait until later to see if anybody else joins in on the fun.**

**Brian Stetzel: Anywhere I can cash in those 10K in points? Seriously though I think we've been through this talk before with Merrier. You know that two dimensional characters is something I frown upon (although minor characters I can suffice with their time on screen being limited) and I'm happy to see that you reckon Naruto has this sense of being whole. What you have to look forward to is Hanabi has two weeks to think over the entire night and plot a suitable revenge plan.**

**QuirkyMadness: Cool wouldn't be the work I would use there. I'd say he's more Abnormal or Quirky. Trust me though, this story isn't entirely original, I've just taken some ****really**** old ideas and made them into my own unique version.**

**Please Review and Peace Out.**


	9. Moments by the Fire

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

...

The walk to Wave was a steady one as team seven and team eight pressed on as a group, the clients passing jokes back and forth with one another. "I never thought of using sake as a broth for ramen, I wouldn't think that it would work," said Naruto as he listened to Tazuna's suggestion. He lifted his shoulder lightly as he adjusted his pack, the large object bigger than the ramen chef was yet he carried it with ease. He had explained that he had needed to take as many cooking utensils as possible which had sated the inquiries of the curious. He had been asked on several occasions why he didn't seal the overly large bag in a sealing scroll but he said that he enjoyed the feeling of weight on his shoulders.

"The whole broth doesn't have to be made of it, rather a fifty fifty split with whatever base you're already using," explained the bridge builder as he took a swig of the flask in his hand.

"The concentration would still be too high, I'll have to experiment once I get back, my clients know that I'm gone for two weeks so an extra day for 'testing' shouldn't be off the charts," said Naruto deep in thought as his foot crashed on top of one of two puddles, sending droplets of water in all directions. The rest of the group continued to move until Naruto bent down while placing his backpack on the ground, enticing everyone to look at him. "What, I'm tying my shoes what does it look like?"

The group seemed to get the message and they continued to walk on until Hinata spoke up. "Is...Isn't Naruto-kun wearing sandals?" she questioned causing the other genin to think momentarily before turning around just in time to see two ninja leap out of the two puddles in the ground and lunge at Naruto with their gauntlets poised. Before anybody could call out in warning, they watched in shock as the bladed hand pierced through Naruto's back, the claws extending through the torso until the appeared out his stomach.

"NARUTO-KUN!" screamed Hinata as Sakura could only cover her mouth in shock.

"Bastards!" cursed Kiba as he charged forward, Sasuke by his side as Shino's bugs loomed over the top of them. The three genin charged forward, forcing the two enemies back working in sync to avoid and block projectiles that Sasuke threw. With the two men away from the prone Naruto who was gasping in pain as blood leaked from his chest, Hinata rushed to his side, quickly rolling him onto his back for comfort.

"Stay with me Naruto-kun," she cried as tears formed in her eyes, tearing the sleeve off of her robe as she applied pressure to the wound in a desperate attempt to slow the blood flow. While the two Chunin mercenaries may have been able to hold their own against the three genin to a certain extent, they found themselves backed against the immovable form of Kakashi looking down on them. It was only moments later that the two assassins were tied to one another looking much worse for wear.

"Would you like to do the interrogations Kurenai?" asked Kakashi to which the genjutsu mistress nodded, stepping forward to do what she did best.

"How can you be so calm sensei, Naruto's dying!" screamed Sakura only just able to find her voice.

"That's because that is not Naruto," said Kakashi which caused all of the genin to look at him.

"But shadow clones can't bleed," said Sasuke wanting an answer.

"Then it is safe to assume that this is not a shadow clone," said Shino as the rest of his hive crawled through the sleeves of his jacket. Kakashi walked past the genin until he reached the backpack where he hit the top of it with a hard punch.

"What was that for!" shouted a voice from inside as the lid flipped open as Naruto stepped out into the light, having to shield his eyes momentarily from the sun. The genin looked in confusion back and forth from the dying Naruto and the one who had just appeared.

"Then..." said Hinata looking at the clone in her arms before it dissolved into a thick steaming pile of ramen.

"Yeah, the ramen clone's a bit dirty when he dies," said Naruto rubbing the back of his head as Hinata got to her feet in a mad rush, desperately pushing the noodles off of her robe as the broth seeped into her remaining garments.

"Dude, can you teach me how to make that?" asked Kiba as Akamaru leapt to the ground, happily picking at the free meal.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to make that thing, I had to prepare it just right for an hour before going to the Hokage tower," said Naruto as he stepped out of the backpack. "Thankfully since I didn't think we were going to be attacked I didn't add an exploding seal and tobacco sauce; trust me that's painful."

"So you were hiding in your backpack the entire time?" asked Kiba.

"Yea, I was trying to catch some shuteye after having to clean up after my house guests and I trashed the place last night. There was popcorn everywhere!" he said in an exasperated tone as he closed the lid of the backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

"So your clone noticed the trap," said Shino bringing attention back to the matter at hand. "That then raises the question as to whether or not our senseis noticed it."

"We did," said Kakashi smiling from behind his mask. "However think of this as a test of survival, even the simplest of missions can have unforeseen circumstances that can but you on guard. Hinata was the only one out of the five of you who noticed that Naruto wasn't wearing shoes, thus enabling you three to react as you did, which I have to say your teamwork was impressive."

Sakura didn't need to hear anything, having been left out of the praise she knew she had disappointed her sensei and she bowed her head in shame, realising that if the client hadn't been somebody as skilled as Naruto they would be dead. Clenching her fist tightly to the point where her nails pierced her skin, she fought desperately to prevent tears coming from her eyes. "I got the information that we needed," said Kurenai as she rejoined the group. "It seems they were after Tazuna here with do or die orders."

"Now that's interesting," said Kakashi shifting his attention to the bridge builder. "Tell me Tazuna, what secrets have you been keeping from us?"

...

Naruto stoked the fire as the moon hung high in the sky as Kakashi stood nearby on guard duty. Having known the dangers that lay ahead of them with the millionaire Gato wanting Tazuna dead, it had been Naruto's charisma which had guaranteed that the mission would continue. They had travelled for several more hours before deciding to set up camp for the night and after a hearty meal, served only as a ramen chef could, they had set up shifts and gone to bed, Kiba being the first to keep watch alongside Hinata. Hours and past and Naruto found himself unable to sleep before eventually coming outside to sit by the fire and listen to the sound of nature.

A tent opened up behind him and Naruto listened to the footsteps edge ever closer as Sakura stood behind them rubbing her shoulders nervously. "C-can I sit down?" she asked, her voice shivering in the wind.

"Go ahead," offered Naruto shuffling slightly across on the log, allowing the pink haired kunoichi to sit beside him. For several minutes neither of them talked, Sakura unsure of what to say while Naruto knew that it would be inappropriate to speak first.

"How do you do it?" she eventually asked causing Naruto to turn towards her in confusion.

"In what way, I'm not willing to share my recipes with everyone," he said defensively.

"That's not what I meant," said Sakura unable to make eye contact with the blonde despite him trying to lighten the mood.

"I know," replied Naruto as he returned to the fire, poking it harshly with his branch sending embers into the air. "I heard that you froze when my clone got stabbed and in all actuality, you were probably the one who responded most human." Only now did Sakura turn to face him as Naruto continued. "The boys reaction is what we are trained to do but their actions were predictable and had it been a higher level opponent they may not have made it out unscathed; heck even against those two Chūnin they may have been in trouble since they had no general plan. Then there was Hinata's reaction who waited for the right moment to tend to me, hence when the senseis give their evaluation they'll probably want her trained as a medic nin. What you need to look at however is where they come from. Kiba grew up in a compound where they fight one another for supremacy, Hinata grew up not knowing a mother's love and from that feels caring for those around her. Meanwhile Sasuke is continuously trying to push himself in order to gain vengeance for his family."

"What about Shino?" asked Sakura.

"I'm not sure if Aburame's are capable of showing emotion," said Naruto in thought before shaking his head. "The point is, all of these people grew up in a shinobi environment while you grew up in a civilian. The greatest battle you've fought to date is a rivalry with Ino...which you know how that's turned out," he finished awkwardly only for Sakura to look away and mumble incoherently.

"How do you know all of this information?" she asked trying to get the conversation away from Ino.

"I requested a fresh genin team for this mission, simply because if I had graduated the age I was meant to I'd be teamed potentially with one of you guys," he said with a sigh as he pulled his knees up to his chest. "When I graduated, the other genin around me were nearly twice my age, it was hard to fit in. I rose through the ranks quickly, but every time I saw you guys in the academy I couldn't help but feel sad, wondering what it would be like to be able to socialise with people my own age. I even tried to enter under a henge one time but the teachers quickly saw through it and that was the end of that. When I was told to pick a team to escort me, I went through everybody's files, I wanted to know more about you guys and try and make up for years of potential friendship. Makes you think, if I was a dumbass I still may have tried to graduate early and only end up the dead last in the end but at least I would have been around people my own age. Listen to me, you probably think I'm just a big sap or..."

Naruto didn't finish as he felt Sakura's arms wrap around him and embrace him in a hug, one which he returned with a content smile as he hugged her in return. "You don't have to change for us Naruto, you're fine just the way you are," said Sakura as she openly cried on his shoulder, Naruto's story having struck her deeply. Meanwhile Hinata who had awoken to the two talking closed the tent flap she had been peering through and hugged herself, wishing it was her in Naruto's embrace at the moment.

"Naruto-kun," she whispered as she rubbed her forearms, generating a small amount of heat that did little to comfort her.

"I'm going to help you Sakura," said Naruto as they broke contact. "I promise you that, and I never break a promise."

"Thank you," said Sakura as she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes.

"Anyways, go get some sleep, we've still got a long way to travel," said Naruto to which the kunoichi nodded as she stood up and walked towards her tent. Naruto smiled as he turned back to the fire only to once again hear the sounds of footsteps coming towards him. He turned his face only to feel a soft pair of lips caress his cheek before Sakura quickly moved back to her tent at a faster pace. Naruto rubbed the spot several times over before his smile broadened as he picked up a nearby stone and chucked it into the bushes, happy to hear a resounding crack. "You're not using this to write smut like the pervert sage!" shouted Naruto as he turned back to the fire as Kakashi put away his pen and paper, now nursing the large lump on his forehead.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Gaiseric: You are right to a degree, however Naruto lives and works within the lawless zone, staying out of civilians way for the majority of time, the only time he mingles with the crowd is usually on his way to get supplies. One would imagine the council would be angry at him having free reign but to drag him away would be to make the lawless part of town lawful again, something they don't necessarily wish to do.**

**Brian Stetzel: Yeah, it didn't really make sense for Hanabi to still be partying since she is much younger and as such much more susceptible to alcohol. After all, we want to keep the characters as "real" as possible.**

**Orexisgrimm: Good enough to be read twice, I feel honoured.**

**Troutman30: Right you are good sir, right you are.**

**Peace out.**


	10. Losing One's Provisions

**As a starting note, this will be the last chapter written from me for the year, going on Christmas holiday tomorrow and as such will not be having access to a computer. There will be a computer but when it's going to be burning hot, who wants to stay indoors? Anyways...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

It had only been a momentary look to the side at the sound of bushes rustling, that was all the warning needed however as Kakashi's visible eye went wide. "Get down!" he shouted as he grabbed Sasuke and Shino while he dove to the floor. Kurenai and Naruto quickly responded with Tazuna being protected by Kurenai while Naruto tackled Hinata and Sakura safely to the ground. Kiba had smelt the attack coming and as such was able to act on his own accord, not needing anybodies help to dive to the floor. The two girls silently screamed but not due to the fear of the giant blade flying overhead, but rather because when Naruto had reached around them to take them down his hand had accidentally grasped a breast in each hand. Naruto paid little attention however as he got to his feet alongside Kurenai and Kakashi as they stared at the shinobi standing atop the vicious weapon.

"Didn't imagine all of you would have gotten out of that unscathed," said the ninja observing those in front of him. "To think that even the blonde brat reacted."

"You get what you get," said Naruto with a shrug of his shoulders as the genin slowly got back to their feet.

"Who are you?" said Sasuke looking at the enemy.

"That my student, is one of the former seven swordsman of the mist and an 'A' ranked missing nin, Zabuza Momichi," explained Kakashi.

"Hmm, as quick as rumours tell, Kakashi of the Sharingan," said Zabuza possibly smiling from behind his mask.

"Sharingan?" repeated Sasuke looking at his teacher with curiosity.

"If memory serves me right, you would be Konoha's genjutsu specialist Kurenai Yūhi," said Zabuza turning his attention towards the second Jōnin. His eyes then turned towards Naruto with an analytical look. "Then this brat could be the most dangerous of all."

"Naruto's stronger than Kakashi?" said Kiba in disbelief.

"N-Naruto-kun's that strong," said Hinata having recovered from the accidental breast grab.

"What have you heard about me?" asked Naruto.

"Nothing," said Zabuza.

"Then why are you saying he's the strongest you ass hole!" shouted Kiba in frustration.

"Because lack of knowledge in the shinobi world is potentially the biggest enemy you can find," said Zabuza simply playing it towards the genin.

"Then why would you focus him out when you know nothing about us?" asked Sakura speaking up.

"You lack the fire that burns in his eyes, they hold a power that none of you could yet dream of," said Zabuza sounding impressed. "Those eyes remind me of my own, able to all emotions to the side in order to obtain the objective."

There was silence momentarily as Tazuna quivered, a cool breeze blowing through the leaves of the trees. "Why doesn't Naruto respond?" asked Kiba quietly through gritted teeth.

"He would lose the psychological battle if he were to say otherwise," analysed Shino. "By keeping your emotions in check during pre-battle banter, you can frustrate your opponent and force an opening."

"Staying calm even against someone of that calibre," said Sakura in awe, trying to resist from shaking in fear.

"To think that a single bridge builder would need two teams to protect him, I didn't think Wave had such money," said Zabuza as he leapt to a higher branch, pulling out his weapon as he did so. "I would have liked to have fought you Kakashi, however I am not foolish enough to believe that I could single handily take on you three. Luck has spared you for the moment bridge builder, but know that your life shall end by my hand and my hand alone."

"Not if we have anything to say about it," said Kakashi before Zabuza leapt away into the bushes.

"That was anticlimactic," said Kurenai as she got out of her fighting stance.

"Be that as it may, it seems strange that he would reveal himself without any real reason," said Kakashi.

"He could be trying to split us up," said Naruto. "By knowing we are fighting someone like him it will force us to be protecting Tazuna at all times, at least one person capable of fighting Zabuza and another able to fight his assistant."

"Assistant?" questioned Kakashi.

"You picked up the scent of them didn't you Kiba," said Naruto turning towards the Inuzuka.

"I thought I could smell somebody else but they weren't close enough for me to get a good enough scent for tracking," said Kiba.

"We're not going to track them," said Kurenai.

"You mean we're just going to let them get away?" asked Sakura.

"Our job entitles us to protect the client, chasing after men with the strength to challenge you on equal footing is not the best way to do so," said Kakashi. "If there was an accomplice then that means that there are potential traps set up for us to charge through."

"So it was a baited plan," said Naruto as they figured everything out. "If we'd followed him we'd have been doing what they wanted."

"So it seems," said Kurenai.

"S-so what now?" asked Hinata as she felt colour return to her face.

"Continue the mission," said Kakashi as he began to walk, his face still showing signs of cautiousness. Naruto shrugged as he threw his backpack over his shoulder, trailing a bit behind Kurenai as the genin closed the gap, Tazuna in the middle no longer feeling safe on the outside.

"Naruto," said Sasuke causing the blonde teen to turn towards him, slowing down momentarily so that he was walking alongside. "I have a favour to ask of you."

"Ask away," said Naruto, his tone showing no emotion of what had just happened.

"I want you to train me," he said causing Naruto to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "I need to become stronger and like that missing nin said, you're an unknown factor. I've seen you fight but know that you've only shown a fraction of your power. Since you're roughly my age, you should know what I could be capable of if given proper training."

"I have no quarrels with training you, however your favour should have been, 'I want you to train us,'" said Naruto turning his gaze forward. "I can see in you that you do care about your team but you don't play the role of the protector. I know what your final goal is, and I can tell you that Itachi's strength is far greater than my own." Sasuke flinched hearing the name of his brother as Naruto continued unfazed. "Kakashi told me that when you introduced yourself to your team, you explained that your goal in life is to kill a certain someone. Strength through hatred is born by darkness. You'd be a lot stronger mentally if you'd said that your goal was to protect those around you so that nothing tragic happened in your life again. Strength through friendship is born by light. Light or darkness Sasuke? Pick a side."

Sasuke paused momentarily as the group passed by the frozen Uchiha before he shook his head and trailed at the back of the pack, his mind going over all of the information he had just been given. He knew that deep down his brother had to die by his hand but now he slowly began to realise that while he desired to be the one to unleash the final move that he didn't have to go about it alone.

...

"This place looks worse than the last time I came here," said Naruto as the group came close to the town. Of the few people that they had seen, lifeless was one way to explain to others the manners of the walking dead.

"It's not much kid but its home," said Tazuna. "So long as Gato doesn't get me the town will grow, of that I am sure."

"I look forward to that day," said Naruto. "Anyways, I need to go check out the markets so you guys go set up base camp and I'll find you later."

"See you later," said Kakashi with a brief wave before Naruto turned and walked in a different direction.

"Shouldn't one of us go with him and make sure nothing happens?" asked Sakura.

"We've just arrived in town, and this is the reason why he came," said Kakashi. "If he so chooses to do so, he could leave tomorrow and one team will have to escort him back."

"But we just got here!" said Kiba wondering if having hiked for so long only to repeat the thing a day later would be worth the 'C' rate pay.

"We follow the client's orders," said Kakashi. "We cannot tell him what to do, that is for him to decide."

...

Naruto walked through the streets, his eyes like a hawk as he picked up every small detail. His eyes flickered over to a nearby alleyway where he saw a young girl huddled up to her brother, a thin blanket covering the two for warmth. To Naruto's sadness, this was not the only place where this was happening, with many people shivering on the side of the street or gathered around a single fire. Naruto growled in annoyance before he placed his pack on the ground and rummaged around inside. Having seen what he had remaining in stock, he sighed before summoning two dozen clones, scaring many of the civilians who had just watched replicas of the boy appear out of thin air.

"You know what to do," he said before the clones saluted, leaping off as quickly as they had appeared. "It's times like these I seriously wish that I had the Shodaime's mokuton ability," he said as he pulled out a scroll, unleashing the items sealed within.

...

"Naruto's been gone for hours," said Sakura to Hinata, the two girls having shared the one room. They were scheduled to have the last shift supervising at the end of the night and as such had gone to bed early.

"D-do you think he's okay?" asked Hinata, not having been able to catch any sleep.

"Sensei said not to worry but I can't help it," said Sakura having seen the state of the people on the walk to Tazuna's house. Despite the fact that they wore headbands indicating that they were official shinobi, some of the civilians had looked like they would risk getting killed in an attempt to steal food off the ninjas.

"W-we should go," said Hinata in a hushed voice to which Sakura nodded. Silently, they got changed back into their clothing and opened the window, cringing slightly as it squeaked open. As quietly as they could, they made their way outside and into the street, not noticing the watchful eye of Kakashi watching them, the Jōnin slightly smiling from behind his mask.

As the two female ninja leapt across the rooftops, they were able to hear the sound of laughter from nearby, something which struck as quite a contrast from the desolate area they were moving across. As they got close enough, they looked on from the rooftops as the citizens of Wave were all lined up, a bowl in their hands as they conversed with one another. There were groups of people standing by eating as if they hadn't in days, which Sakura and Hinata assumed was a possibility. Their eyes focused on where the line ended to find Naruto standing in the middle of a poorly crafted stall, serving ramen at a rapid pace as a number of clones worked away at making the meal to satisfy customer needs, a good number of them scaling a large number of fish which sat in a bucket.

Naruto wiped the sweat off of his brow with his sleeve as he handed the bowl back to the little girl whom he had seen earlier, the once empty object now filled to the brim with food with caused the girl to beam at him happily. This in turn caused a smile to grace Naruto's lips as he went to reach for the next bowl to find that somebody standing next to him had already taken it. "Need an extra set of hands?" asked Sakura as she passed the bowl back to a clone for them to fill it with quality goods.

"What about two?" asked Hinata from his other side as she did the same, a smile gracing her lips as the next customer came forward.

"If Kakashi yells at me for you two being asleep when you're meant to be keeping watch you two are so dead," he said with a chuckle as he continued his work. Two hours passed before the town had had its fill, a number of people opting to sleep in the middle of the street, not wanting to leave the setting they were in. Naruto smiled as the last of his clones finished sealing all of his equipment away, his food stock practically down to half a day's worth of food but he didn't mind. Turning around, he found Hinata and Sakura sleeping side by side, exhaustion and fatigue having overcome them. Discarding all but one clone as Naruto put his scrolls back into his pack, he and the replica picked up Sakura and Hinata gently as they walked through the streets.

"Thank you," came a soft voice from nearby causing Naruto to turn and find the small girl from before looking at him with sleepy eyes.

"I tried," said Naruto as he knelt down and ruffled her hair whilst making sure Hinata remained in his grasp.

"You're the greatest," she said stifling a yawn before her eyelids closed and her head rested upon the chest of her brother.

"Sweet dreams," said Naruto as he and his clone made their way to Tazuna's house via the rooftops, not having any real knowledge of which way he needed to go through the streets. When he landed on the rooftop however he turned his head to see a shadow leaping away. He was tempted to give chase but chose against it, knowing that if they had wanted to do something they would have already done it.

It didn't take him long to find the right spot with Kakashi standing on the rooftop. He silently indicated to the window underneath him to which Naruto nodded in understanding. "I remember the days when you wouldn't give your food away to anyone," said Kakashi as the clone slipped indoors.

"Time changes a lot of things," said Naruto looking up at the Jōnin who smiled down at him. "Wake me up in time for the girl's shift, I'll cover for them since they helped me tonight."

"Will do," said Kakashi as Naruto crawled through the window.

"And if you turn this into porn I'm going to beat the crap out of you," warned Naruto as he slipped out of sight. Kakashi chuckled at the comment before pulling out the notepad from his pocket, looking at all of the notes he had put down. He shrugged as he continued to jot down more references if only for a chance to fight Naruto in a one on one contest.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Eragorn: I have stated this before, but if you missed it, I used to pump out chapters when I first started on a daily basis but looking back I realise that was one of my fundamental mistakes. If I try to rush this story I'll only end up ruining it. So don't rush me on the chapters, they'll come when they come. Also you say you could give me advice on how to make the story better, however is that better in a general view or just what you believe could make it better? Think about it.**

**Argentorum: Who says he needs to stop at cards? Why not exploding dice, miniature roulette wheels for shuriken? The possibilities are endless!**

**Rickjames196: Ah so you've jumped across from Merrier and found this. Hope you enjoy.**

**Anyways you'll hear from me after the new year has started. Peace out!**


	11. Locked in Tight Confines

**Happy New Year and all that jazz. Hope you enjoyed it because I seriously didn't. Hospitality is not a generous industry, I'm telling you that now. Sorry about having to post this chapter again, cousin accidentally deleted it the little shit.**

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto**

...

"Alright you maggots, listen up before I feel the need to implant my foot firmly up your ass."  
>"Umm...Naruto..."<p>

"What is it soldier and if I hear any of your bellyaching I'm going to smack you so hard your grandbabies will be feeling it!"

"I think what Kiba was getting at Naruto is why are did you henge into a complete stranger wearing a green uniform?" In a puff of smoke Naruto had reverted back into his teenage form, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. Kurenai and Kakashi had asked Naruto if he would be willing to help prepare the young genin for what was to come, as such the ramen chef had led the young group to a small clearing with some exercises in mind.

"This is my first time training somebody alright, I'm a little nervous is all."

"You didn't sound nervous as G.," muttered Kiba loud enough to just be heard.

"Being able to take on any persona for the sake of the mission is a given for any shinobi," explained Naruto. "If you are ever so lucky as to have to protect a VIP then there may be times where you have to pretend to be said VIP in order to trick the enemy. If you ask your sister Hinata she can tell you how easy it is to see through a henge that is not well thought out. However that is not why we are here to discuss. Today we will be climbing trees."

"How is climbing trees going to help us prepare to fight Zabuza?" asked Sasuke starting to wonder if Naruto actually knew what he was doing.

"A valid point Sasuke, however I believe that if I demonstrate what I want you to do to you you'll get the message quicker," said Naruto as he walked to the nearest tree and placed his foot on the stump before lifting his other foot into the air. Needless to say that when the Genin saw Naruto proceed up the vertical climb rather than crash on his ass they were more or less shocked to the point where their mouths hung open. "Chakra control is an important aspect of a ninja's basic needs. At the moment, I am channelling enough chakra through the soles of my feet to keep myself firmly connected to the tree. Use too little chakra and I'll slip, too much and I'll be pushed off."

"So we have to find the perfect amount of chakra and maintain it," summarised Shino.

"That's right," said Naruto as he dropped to the floor gracefully, landing on his feet like a cat would.

"This is just the basics isn't it," said Sakura.

"Precisely," said Naruto nodding in the pink haired girl's direction.

"So what comes after this?" asked Sasuke intrigued.

"Step after this is usually water walking," explained Naruto. "Although for places like Suna where there is little water they have to adapt otherwise, how they do so I'm not too sure."

"Wouldn't water walking and tree walking be the same?" asked Kiba.

"They are the same in concept, but since water is not a solid object you have to adapt the amount of chakra produced at a constant rate," said Naruto. Placing his fingers into one of his favoured seals, two shadow clones burst into existence. "One of these guys will watch over you as you struggle and fail, the other will watch the two who pass quickly as they attempt water walking."

"That's a bit brutal saying that three of us aren't going to get it," said Sakura worried that she wouldn't be one of the two to pass.

"Prove me wrong then, see you guys tonight," said Naruto before leaping off before anybody else could get a word in.

"What was that about?" Hinata asked one of the clones. The Naruto clone merely shrugged, hiding the answer.

"A piece of advice would be to use a kunai to mark the position up the tree you reach each time," explained the second clone. The genin took the advice and pulled out a kunai as they each moved to a nearby tree.

Two of the genin didn't even need to use the weapon.

...

Naruto walked through the street, the civilians instantly recognising him and thanking him as he passed. He politely waved back but tried not to make a big fuss out of anything, rather taking it all in stride and be as humble as possible. It would be a young girl running in front of him however that would cause him to stop in his tracks. "Thank you for dinner," she said looking up to him with beaming eyes. "You're the best friend ever!"

"My pleasure," he replied playfully rubbing the top of the girls head, ruffling up her hair.

"Stop it," she said in between giggles as people nearby chuckled at the spectacle. Naruto did as he was told and turned his gaze around him, the atmosphere so much different than the prior day. People talked to one another on the streets and they actually wore smiles rather than the depressing mood that they had worn earlier. Yet Naruto knew that if the bridge were to not be completed then the town would dry up once more and Gato would monopolise the town causing the people to turn on each other. All that he had done was insert one bright moment into a dark town, and like all bright things it would slowly fade away. Essentially there were two ways to fix the situation, one was the successful completion of the bridge. That however brought problems in itself, what was there stopping Gato from blowing up the bridge after it had been completed, potentially taking innocent lives as he did so?

His attention was diverted as he heard the sound of breaking glass and his eyes zoned in like a hawk onto the shattered remains. "This is what happens when you don't pay your dues," shouted a thug, backhanding a young woman across the side of her face as his companion struck a match, placing the flame against a flammable torch, the item bursting into flames. The civilians in the nearby vicinity seemed to shy away from the situation, opting to retreat from the confrontation rather than take action.

"Let this be an example!" he shouted holding the fire high in the air. "If you backtalk to us you are backtalking to Gato, and you know the boss doesn't like being confronted," he concluded turning his attention towards the building only to find Naruto standing in front of him, his gaze piercing into his eyes.

"Beat it kid, this doesn't concern you," said the man allowing the woman to scramble to safety. There was a pause however as Naruto didn't move, his feet remained rooted to the ground. The thug's patience was clearly short as it was only seconds later he swung his fist towards Naruto only for his hand to shoot into the air and catch the fist within his palm.

"You would strike down this woman and burn down her belongings for merely voicing her opinion," he said in a cold tone as his gaze shifted to the man within his grasp, his fingers tightening to the point the bones in the thug's hands about to break. In a flash his remaining hand had buried itself within the man's torso, his grip on the man the only thing preventing him from skidding away. Spit and bile were expelled from the man's mouth as he struggled to breath, his friend reacting by swinging the flaming torch at the young blonde. Watching the attack, Naruto avoided the flames, ducking under them as they glided over his hair while simultaneously pulling his captive forward and into the path of the fire.

It was a matter of moments before the fire spread to the man's clothes as they began to burn brightly, Naruto releasing his grip as the man writhed around in fear, the heat burning away at not only his clothes but his skin. His companion was shocked, a voiceless apology hanging from his lips before Naruto quickly ripped the torch out of his grasp and elbowed him in the solar plexus, causing him to drop to his knees. "Give this message to Gato," said Naruto gripping the man's collar and pulling him close, the fire mere inches away from the man's face while his companion rolled on the ground struggling to extinguish the flames. "If he so much as thinks of hurting these people I will not hesitate to break every bone in his body. Do you understand?" The man nodded furiously as the other thug breathed heavily, his shirt burnt through as his torso revealed light burns to the skin. "Then get out!" They didn't need telling twice.

Naruto watched the retreating figures of the men before dumping the flames into a nearby barrel filled with water, a plume of steam rising into the air. "You saved my house, thank you so much," said the woman embracing Naruto in a hug, her relief clearly evident. Naruto didn't reply however as he knew that had he not been around the result would have been very different. Not only that, the only reason that these people had the strength to talk back was because he had inspired some glimmer of hope within the civilians.

"Don't thank me," said Naruto as his face fell, realising that because of him this woman had nearly lost everything. He could only hope that Gato got his message and heeded his warning.

...

Gato's fist slammed into the armrest of the chair he was sitting on, his pitiful excuse of minions grovelling in front of him. He had quickly learnt of the cheer that had appeared through the streets of Wave and fearing an uprising had sent his goons to demoralise the citizens only for them to return bruised and beaten, by a child no less!

It only took a wave of the hand for the command to be given, the wounded men standing no chance as Gato's men obeyed like slaves, their lifeless bodies being deposited minutes later. His cold beady eyes shifted to Zabuza and his companion, their face still covered by a mask of interweaving colours. "None of this would have happened if you just did your job!" he growled through gritted teeth.

"My job doesn't include me jumping into the maw of death," shot back the shinobi, hardly moving creating an intimidating figure.

"Well this brat is bringing hope back to a defeated population, I want him to be made an example of!" stated Gato trying to contain his rage. "Death isn't swift enough though, I want to humiliate him in front of everyone before I have the pleasure of slitting his throat myself. Bring him to me alive and I'll double your price."

Zabuza made no inclination as to whether or not he accepted, opting to turn and walk away but Gato knew that a silent pact had been made, he knew Zabuza's price. In a room far away from the thugs, Zabuza slumped down onto a chair. "What do you think of this offer Haku?" asked the shinobi.

"He was already offering us enough to survive for five years without work, to double that is an amazing offer," replied the voice behind the mask. Zabuza knew the money could easily suffice them for many years to come, however he had other ideas for the money which he had voiced to Haku on many occasions, the failed coup d'état still weighing heavily on his mind. "You want to help her don't you?" said Haku, their voice much softer.

"Thank about it Haku, an army bought with that sort of money will be a destructive force," said Zabuza deep in thought. Closing his eyes, his keen mind began to play several scenarios around in his head. "We can't risk a direct confrontation with both Konoha Jōnin, one would be manageable."

"You don't sound so confident."

"Years of constant failures makes me realise that I'm not invincible," said the famous swordsman picking up his blade, gripping the weapon tightly. "Tomorrow we show the world that my name is still one to be feared."

...

"Nothing happen on the bridge?" asked Naruto as Kakashi walked into the house, the sun setting in the distance behind him.

"The workers seemed in high spirits, your doing no doubt," said Kakashi turning his one visible eye towards Naruto.

"I do what I can," shrugged Naruto.

"What of the genin?" asked Kakashi.

"Neither of the shadow clones have popped yet so I take it they're still at it," said Naruto. "You're going to have to confront him soon."

"I'm aware, I imagine he'll ask me about it tonight," said Kakashi turning his gaze away, his memories of his teammate strong in his mind. "Maybe it will teach him something."

"Maybe," said Naruto as the door slid open only to find Kurenai holding a bag of groceries. "You can cook?"

"Hardy-ha-ha," replied Kurenai placing the ingredients on the bench top. "I know how to cook, Tsunami and I are making dinner tonight since you seemed to have used everything you had to feed the town last night."

"You make it sound like a bad thing," said Naruto as a flood of memories swept over him, the door opening to reveal Hinata and Sakura standing there, panting heavily. "Wow, you two are already sparring on the water, that's incredible."

"T-thank you," said Hinata sporting a light blush, her eyes moving towards Kurenai.

"You're clones a slave driver you know that," said Sakura who was clearly out of breath. Naruto merely shrugged at the comment knowing that in the long run the clone's brutal methods would be beneficial.

"You two are just in time to help prepare dinner," said Kurenai holding several potatoes in her hands. It took only a few minutes for Sakura and Hinata to wash up before they joined Kurenai in the kitchen. Sakura having actively helped her mother with meals took to the vegetable peeling with ease. Hinata having never prepared food before struggled with the simple task and cut her finger within a minute.

The Hyūga princess 'eeped' in pain as Kurenai instructed her to wash her hand under water while applying pressure. Not wanting to do so in the kitchen, Hinata sought the refuge of the bathroom where she used toilet paper to prevent the small droplets of blood from dripping across the floor. Half a minute passed before she felt another presence in the room and she turned around to find Naruto standing there, Hinata having forgotten to lock the door when she came in. In his hands he held a small knife and a potato.

"Need a teacher?" he offered to which the lavender haired girl smiled, the blonde boy locking the door behind him. When the bleeding came to a stop and the wound sealed with a bandage, she took the items out of Naruto's hands and waited for instructions. They didn't come however as Naruto stepped behind Hinata, reaching around her torso and lightly grabbing her wrists. Thankfully with him behind her, Hinata was able to hide the furious blush that coloured her face. With minimal force, Naruto started guiding Hinata's hands, her fingers shaking slightly as the knife cut off the external layer of potato skin. There they stood, Naruto helping Hinata peel a vegetable while Hinata's heart thumped loudly in her chest. Yet as time went on she felt more comfortable in the warm embrace that Naruto held her in, so much so that she rolled her head back to rest on Naruto's shoulder, her eyes looking up at the smiling features of the ramen chef. He looked down at her, tilting his head so that their eyes locked as their noses pressed against one another as she felt his breath against her lips.

Yet Naruto didn't move any closer and Hinata realised that this was an invitation, much like how when he had placed his hands of her stomach and asked her to place them where she wanted them. This time however it was Hinata's choice as to whether she wished to take the next step, a decision which caused her to swallow nervously. Closing her eyes, she pushed forward in tiny jumps to the point where if she were within millimetres of each other, her heart beating at an ever increasing rate.

"Hinata are you in there?" asked Sakura as she banged lightly on the door, the sudden fright causing Hinata to move away slightly out of Naruto's embrace.

"Y-yes," she replied trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. "I'll be out soon."

"Okay then," said Sakura before her footsteps could be heard moving away. Hinata exhaled a breath she didn't know she had been holding, realising that Sakura' intervention had ruined a perfect opportunity. Her head sagged in defeat as she moved through the small confines towards the door only for Naruto to grab her wrist. Turning around she found him standing there with his inviting smile and once again she found herself moving towards him, no hesitation this time as she pressed her lips against his, the knife and potato dropping out of her hands as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Anno and Graggon: That's American lingo, I'm an Aussie, we say things differently down here.**

**Balatros: What strength is Naruto at? I could tell you but we'll discover more soon in the next couple of chapters, just hold out until then.**

**Anon: Kingdom Hearts did have that theme but I don't want to go too stereotypical, I'll work on it as time goes on.**

**Alphadelta1001: More Kiba magic sticks on the way.**

**Knightewolfe: Wow, you sure know your alcohol. As to whether or not I compare to great authors like the one's you've mentioned I'm not going to say. I don't judge my own work, I merely see it as stepping stones towards literal progression. As to whether it is as smooth as Dom Perignon, if I'm ever lucky to try some I'll let you know.**

**My-threesome: Naruto paired with a single girl is a definant somewhere down the track, the real test though is picking the right girl. I don't know why but I'd like to do a NaruxKin...who knows. As for this story, I'm trying to avoid the Mary-Sue with what I have in plan should work somewhat.**

**That's all for now. Peace out!**


	12. Buying Time

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

...

"Nearly there," muttered Kiba looking at the cuts he had created stretching up the tree. The three genin had struggled originally with the task but had slowly managed to make their way higher. With their chakra levels running low, they had decided to call it quits before the sun set but now that they had returned in the morning, Kiba had been stuck on the same spot. It was actually a lot darker than that, he had actually been going backwards. He groaned in annoyance as he put his head in his hands as Shino leapt from the top most branch of his tree, having successfully scaled the tree several times.

"Trouble?" he asked showing no emotion from behind his sunglasses.

"It's just so frustrating," he said as he got to his feet, staring down the tree.

"You just need to relax," explained Shino as he turned towards the tree that Sasuke had been climbing to find the Uchiha perched on the highest point of the tree.

"I am relaxed!" shouted Kiba as he charged up the tree, only making it halfway before his chakra spiked and he was pushed off of the branch with excessive force. Thankfully he was able to land on his feet but he managed to skid several feet before coming to a stop. He growled in frustration and was once again about to run at the tree before Shino stuck his hand out, stopping the Inuzuka in his tracks. Before Kiba could ask what Shino was doing he spotted the small rolled up object in Shino's hands, the Aburame not showing surprise considering he quickly realised that Kiba knew exactly what he was holding.

"Where'd you get that?" asked Kiba as he plucked the small white stick from Shino's hand, inhaling the strong smell of marijuana rolled up within the paper. He wasn't answered however in words, as Shino opened up his jacket to reveal six bags pinned to the inside of each side. The smell hit Kiba like a brick as he inhaled the scent like oxygen. As Kiba regained his senses, he realised that this may be the beginning of an interesting relationship between he and the insect user.

...

Naruto couldn't help but laugh as Sakura dropped through the surface of the water, her chakra supplies running out and causing the pink haired girl to drop like a stone. Naruto had taken the girl's out for a morning run across the river to the point of exhaustion in order to increase the genin's chakra levels considering both of them nearly had perfect control of their chakra. "Come on," said Naruto offering his hand to Sakura. The genin looked away momentarily before complying, Naruto hoisting her out of the water before holding her in his arms bridal style to accompany the fact she didn't have any more strength left.

Standing nearby, Hinata was able to see the small blush form across Sakura's cheeks and couldn't help but feel jealous. Cancelling the flow of chakra in her feet, Hinata sunk into the water quickly gaining the attention of the other two. Moments later she surfaced to see Naruto looking down on her before he turned around and knelt beside her. "Climb on," he instructed, the Hyūga princess complying as she pulled herself onto Naruto, her wet clothes saturating the blonde's jacket. With Sakura in his arms and Hinata on his back, Naruto ran across the water at a much faster pace than he had been going with the girls and soon they reached the shoreline.

Sakura was gently placed on her feet as Hinata stepped on solid ground, both of the girls soaked to the bone as Naruto summoned a shadow clone. Within minutes the clone had gathered a number of branches and kindling as the three teenagers set up camp. A fire was soon roaring as the clone expelled from existence. Naruto turned around to find both of the genin standing there still in their wet clothes. "You're going to get sick if you don't get out of those clothes," said Naruto as he took off his jacket and shirt, unceremoniously throwing them onto a patch of grass near the fire to dry. Hinata and Sakura shared a look between one another before they both swallowed nervously, their fingers slowly reaching up to their clothes, the wet fabric sticking to their skin. At a less than steady pace, Sakura and Hinata were down to their underwear and bras, the rest of their clothes hanging on nearby branches to drip dry.

Despite having been naked in front of Naruto a handful of nights before, Sakura didn't feel comfortable sitting by the fire next to both the ramen chef and Hinata. Hinata was the same in that she had never felt comfortable with her looks, having hidden her figure underneath her jacket for as long as she could remember. Looking around, she didn't see a perverted stare coming from Naruto like she had thought, but she did find Sakura staring at her breasts as if mesmerised, the pink haired genin envious of the size difference in breasts. "How did I never notice this before?" she said under her breath, tempted to poke the closest breast to see whether or not if it was real.

"I really didn't think you two would get this far, I thought you would have dropped a long time ago," said Naruto in genuine surprise.

"That makes me happy," said Sakura as she turned her eyes towards the fire, the heat from the flames caressing her skin.

"You're a great teacher Naruto-kun," said Hinata looking away, hiding a small blush that the compliment had given her.

"I'm not sure if your senseis want me to teach you anything else," said Naruto as he looked at the clouds overhead, shielding his eyes from the sun. Neither Hinata nor Sakura said anything on this, their minds wondering onto other more pressing matters with both of them sitting vulnerably next to the teenage boy. Hinata knew that she had shared a special moment with Naruto in the bathroom but wasn't sure if that was simply a onetime offer, her mind recalling how when Ino and Sakura had been offered temptation within the mist that Sakura had used the time to get Naruto's hands to delve towards her womanhood. Her eyes shifted over to her fellow genin and wondered what relationship she was seeking with Naruto, knowing that she was developing feelings for the blonde boy that grew stronger with every minute she was with him. Due to very drunken scandals, she knew that Ino loved Sakura more than a friend but that didn't mean that Sakura loved her back (although the steamy session she recalled Sakura kissing back before she had passed out).

Sakura was wondering similar thoughts about Hinata's relationship with the blonde and how it could affect her chances with Naruto. On the journey to Wave she had listened as Naruto opened himself up to her and prior to that they had slept in the same bed. She knew that alcohol made people open up their true feelings, possibly one of the reasons why Ino made out with her in the game of 'Spin the Bottle.' As such she couldn't help but wonder if her true feelings had crept out that night where she and Naruto had slept under the same blanket and if so what did she need to do in order to chase these feelings. Taking the initiative, she looked towards the blonde who seemed to sense the pair of eyes fall on him and turned towards Sakura.

"Naruto?"

"Yes Sakura-chan?" replied the blonde getting into a sitting position.

"Just wondering...is there umm...is there anybody you...you know...like?" asked Sakura not sounding all too confident in herself. The question brought Naruto to his feet however as he backed away slightly.

"What...what do you mean?" he asked in response trying to avoid the question. Quickly seeing what Sakura was asking, the Hyūga princess quickly found herself joining the conversation.

"Naruto-kun, please answer the question," pleaded Hinata who got up from her sitting position and started walking towards Naruto, Sakura by her side. The ramen chef stood little chance as he tripped over a branch and fell onto his backside, the two girls quickly closing the distance as Naruto tried to crawl away to no avail. He turned onto his stomach and tried to make a dash to the water but both Sakura and Hinata grabbed a leg each, holding him in place despite the amount of he struggled. He stopped moving however as he looked forward to see a figure standing out in the middle of the water, his figures to vague to see from this distance but Naruto didn't need to see him in order to know it was an enemy, he could sense the killing intent.

"Girls, leave now," instructed Naruto, his voice changing in an instant to a much more serious tone, one which forced the girls to backpedal a bit.

"Naruto-kun what's wrong?" asked Hinata wondering why Naruto was speaking like this.

"Hinata, keep you Byakugan activated in case you run into anybody in the forest," said Naruto as he got to his feet, keeping his eyes forward. "Find Kakashi or Kurenai and get them to come here as quickly as possible."

"Naruto..." started Sakura.

"NOW!" commanded Naruto in a controlled rage, Hinata and Sakura quickly heeding his words, running towards town as quickly as their legs could take them, completely forgetting about the fact that their clothes still hung on the trees. When he could no longer hear them, he walked out onto the water with his head held high. He soon came to a stop roughly a dozen metres away from where Zabuza was standing. "So what does the Demon of the Bloody Mist want with me?" asked Naruto looking up at the experienced shinobi.

"You show no fear, you are either very brave or very foolish boy," stated Zabuza.

"You're not out on a random genocide today," said Naruto which caused Zabuza to give him an intrigued look. "If you wanted to up and kill either me or my friends, you would have snuck through the trees and have waited for the right moment to assassinate us, no doubt something which could easily be done by someone of your stature. Your target was originally the bridge builder, however this seems too far out for you to have randomly come across us, therefore it's safe to believe that you're currently targeting us. Considering Gato is your employer, I assume that he's pissed after what I did to his men yesterday and now you've come to do his dirty work, but since you haven't killed me already I take it that he wants me alive."

"You've got a solid head on your shoulders brat," said Zabuza sounding remotely impressed as he hoisted his sword off his back, wielding the massive weapon in one hand. "True I have to take you in alive, there was no statement however on what condition you needed to be in." That was all the warning Naruto got before Zabuza charged forward, swinging the weapon horizontally, the ramen chef barely able to leap out of the sword's range.

Gaining some distance, Naruto summoned three dozen shadow clones to which Zabuza slowed down momentarily, knowing that summoning so many clones without it having any effect on the body meant that Naruto had massive chakra reserves. He was brought back to the fight however as the shadow clones charged at him in a highly co-ordinated pattern, his blindside constantly having to be protected as the clones circled him.

"Katon: Goukakkyuu no Jutsu!" shouted the original Naruto before a torrent of flames was shot at Zabuza, the missing nin acting in expert fashion as his hands formed multiple seals within a second.

"Suiton: Suijinheki!" shouted Zabuza as he pulled down the bandages covering his mouth the tiniest of fractions, allowing him enough space to shoot forth a wall of water, the two attacks colliding with such force that the battlefield was covered in a fine layer of mist. This was where Zabuza was really able to strike.

Naruto quickly absorbed the memories of every clone that was hacked out of existence, realising that he had to think of something quick in order to maintain some sort of hand in this battle. Having fought within the mist for years, Zabuza was able to pick up the sound of his opponents simply by the ripples they created when they moved. When he could only sense one opponent left on the water. The missing nin moved quickly, driving his knee into Naruto's stomach, only for him to burst out of existence.

Frustrated, Zabuza closed his eyes trying to listen to where Naruto was while he still had the coverage of the mist. It was no good however as he couldn't hear anybody on the surface of the water. Watching from underneath the waves, Naruto knew that he had only borrowed himself so much time. He knew that toe to toe, he stood little chance against Zabuza, especially in the Demon's playground, the landscape helping the missing nin immensely. All Naruto hoped to accomplish was buy enough time for reinforcements to arrive and he hoped that Sakura and Hinata were able to get to either Jōnin quickly. Sadly, help would not be coming anytime soon as the two genin had been forced to stop, a teenager wearing an ornamental mask standing in their way.

...

**So the battle begins, hope you enjoyed.**

**Brian Stentzel: Most of the last chapter I wrote up on emails to myself while I had time off at work, hence why most punctuation errors didn't appear. As for Hanabi, she's still around and in the running, what plans might she have for Naruto once he returns though I wonder, especially when she discovers that Hinata has kissed him?**

**My-threesome: Precisely, every character must struggle to achieve in some way, shape or form in order to accomplish what they set out to do, my characters will be no different.**

**KashikoiNekoHu: I get the comparison a lot.**

**Peace out!**


	13. Struggling to Survive

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

...

Hinata stood protectively in front of Sakura, knowing that the pink haired genin's chakra levels were at a minimum while she had only faked it. Yet no matter what way she looked at it the odds weren't good by any stretch of the imagination, fighting an unknown enemy while protecting your friend may have given her the resolve to fight on, however that didn't mean she could fight to win. The chances of reinforcements arriving were next to none. On the other side of the masked ninja was the safety of both Jōnin not to mention her and Sakura's teammates, while behind her was Naruto who was potentially in a life endangering fight as it was. Swallowing nervously, she knew the decision she had to make.

"S-Sakura listen to me," said Hinata with her back to her fellow Genin, afraid to take her eyes off of their opponent. "I'm going to hold them off as long as I can, keep running and don't look back."

"Hinata..." said Sakura in disbelief, looking to the girl who was the most timid one in their class.

"Neither of you will be going anywhere," said the warrior in front of them, revealing a number of senbon in their hand. Hinata and Sakura quickly braced themselves knowing that if used correctly the small weapons could deal a great amount of damage. With a swing of the wrist the projectiles were thrown at the two girls who leapt out of the way of the attack, this however was part of the plan as they were separated now. Sakura turned around in fear as she found the masked ninja bore down on her with frightening speed and it was only by the barest of margins that she was able to dodge the knee which would have crushed her skull in. That didn't mean she avoided the follow up however as a fist found itself embedded into her stomach.

"Sakura!" shouted Hinata as she tossed a kunai at the back of the enemy only for them to sense the attack and move out of the way. Hinata charged forward before striking towards the ninja's tenketsu points but was unable to land a single hit, the ninja dodging without any difficulty. Sakura watched on with pain, looking deep within herself to find any source of chakra she may be able to utilise, to what effect however she wasn't sure.

Hinata was forced backwards, barely avoiding a roundhouse kick before she saw a number of senbon flying towards her. While she was able to knock a number out of the way, some managed to get through her defences, striking deep within her flesh causing her to grunt in pain. While it hadn't been as painful as she had first thought, the real fear was when she realised her muscles weren't responding the way that she wanted them to. Her fear only intensified when she saw the ninja raise their hand once again, a fresh batch of senbon at the ready. It would be Sakura however who managed to protect her this time.

The ninja turned around to see Sakura leaping at them, already in mid-flight with a kunai raised high. With little reaction time given, the ninja swung their fist around, catching Sakura across the jaw, only for her fist to go right through. "What?" they said in disbelief as the basic Bunshin dispersed revealing the real Sakura behind the clone in perfect synchronicity, only a foot away. The ninja was able to raise a feeble attempt of blocking, but that didn't stop Sakura from plunging the kunai deep within their shoulder.

It was a cold win however as Sakura quickly found herself struggling for breath with a knee buried in her gut followed with a kick to her side, breaking her forearm. Sakura screamed in agonising pain as she clutched her wounded limb, struggling to keep her attention on the fight. Hinata tried to rush to Sakura's aid but was unable to do anything as several senbon struck her knees, rendering her legs motionless, causing her to drop to the ground. Shortly afterwards, Sakura dropped to her knees as well, unable to go on and the two genin looked up at their opponent, silently waiting for the final blow.

"You two...brought happiness to the town didn't you," said a male voice from behind the mask.

"What?" asked Hinata in response as Sakura clutched at her arm, the pain still there but becoming bearable.

"The other night, you fed the starving villagers not for your own benefit, but because you could," said the boy, his emotions hidden behind the mask. "I watched you two and your friend, you're really courageous to have done all that." Sakura and Hinata remained silent, unsure of quite how to respond to what the boy was saying as he continued. "You helped people by providing them hope, Zabuza-san and I seek to restore hope within an entire village."

"Then why is he trying to kill our friend at the moment?" asked Sakura in a controlled rage.

"It is a necessary step, unlike you we cannot bring happiness through food alone. We take different steps towards similar goals, and it is that reason for both why I must stop you from reaching your friends while making sure that you don't die."

"B-But...b-but..." Hinata tried to find some sort of way to fight against what the boy was saying, but she knew that sometimes the sacrifice of a single individual could benefit the community as a whole. She recalled the time when she had nearly been kidnapped and her uncle had opted to go in her father's place, effectively sending himself to his death to protect those precious to him. Shaking her head, she forced her eyes on the boy, her sight much keener than before. "Even so, is it a necessary step you're taking or is it just a shortcut you've discovered!"

This time it was the boy's turn to be silent, knowing that it had just been luck that the job of killing the bridge builder had fallen into Zabuza's hands. Then came this second opportunity to double the funds, in total the two kills would give them more than enough money to return to the Mist and try all over again. "It's complicated," they said but that didn't seem an adequate answer.

"What's the money for?" asked Sakura, having been able to work out that if Naruto was being targeted for whatever reason there had to be some sort of monetary figure involved.

"To release Zabuza-san's village from a tyrants hold," said the boy.

"Then how is that different from what's happening here?" asked Hinata. The boy seemed to want to answer but no words were able to come to their lips. He knew that suffering was a part of life, for one party to benefit another had to receive the harsh end of the bargain.

"Life isn't fair," they said eventually. "The world of ninja is a never ending chain of suffering, for one to eat healthily another must put up with starvation. You cannot change the world we live in with words alone; bloodshed is all that is certain for our future."

"I-It doesn't have to be," said Hinata but she knew how foolish the words sounded.

"You are still young, yet to see the suffering of the world," they said as the pulled a single senbon into each hand. "I wish I still carried the innocent ignorance that you bare," he said before tossing the two weapons, the small projectiles piercing into the girls' necks with precision placement, effectively knocking them out.

...

Naruto grumbled, ignoring the pain seeping from his stomach from the freshly made slice that had torn at his chest. His shadow clones had been parried now by the summoning of Zabuza's water clones. His eyes momentarily shifted to the shoreline, as if expecting to see reinforcements to arrive at any second. It was this momentary distraction however which Zabuza pounced on, driving his fist into Naruto's nose, effectively shattering the appendage in a shower of blood.

"Your friends aren't going to return," said Zabuza as he continued on the offensive, forcing Naruto to dodge several slashes from the oversized weapon, making Naruto wished he had brought his katana from back in Konoha.

"How are you so sure?" grunted Naruto as he avoided a horizontal slash and spying an opening, leapt forward and drove his elbow into the missing nin's chin before following up with a spinning heel kick which sent Zabuza skidding across the water for several metres.

"You are not the only one who has friends," replied Zabuza which caused Naruto's eyes to widen slightly. He wanted to quickly rush off to make sure that he hadn't sent the two genin to their death but every time he turned his head away from Zabuza he got beaten, he didn't really want to find out what would happen if he turned his back towards the former member of the seven swordsmen. His mind was working overtime, trying to figure out a way to signal the Konoha ninja back at Wave without having to rely on something like a shadow clone to make it all the way. His eyes flash as he comes up with an idea and a single clone was made before he flashed through several handseals in an instance.

"Futon Senpūken!" shouted Naruto as he swung his fist forward, sending hurricane force winds as he channelled a great portion of chakra into the attack. Zabuza had been ready for the attack and dodged appropriately, the force of the wind still pushing him several metres back. As he raised his eyes he saw the shadow clone making a beeline towards the shore and in an instant he created a water clone to give chase. Naruto leapt in front of the clone however and dispelled it with a solid kick to the side of the head only for Zabuza to pounce and slice at Naruto's exposed back, only for him to puff into nothingness.

"Damn it!" cursed Zabuza as he realised he had been tricked, looking towards the shoreline to see Naruto and a number of clones tearing away at the trees and tossing a number of green leaves in a pile. Zabuza rushed towards Naruto, summoning several clones in the process but was too late as Naruto sent a vicious Katon jutsu at the pile of fresh leaves, instantly setting them alight before he and his clones charged towards Zabuza ready to intercept the missing nin. Naruto just hoped he had could hold him off for long enough for his plan to work.

...

"Hey...hey...are you alright?"

Slowly, Sakura's world began to come back into focus, her head spinning wildly. She tried to push herself to a sitting position but a burst of pain from her arm reminded her of the fight she had been involved in a little while prior. "Don't exert yourself," said Kurenai, helping her to her feet before she used whatever she had on her to make a temporary sling to hold Sakura's arm in position. Looking over the Jōnin's shoulder, she saw Kakashi helping Hinata to her feet.

"What happened?" asked Sakura, wincing in pain slightly as her arm was put at a right angle at the elbow before being tied in place.

"Kakashi and I saw a pillar of smoke rising into the air, Naruto was trying to signal us that he was in trouble," explained Kurenai as Hinata tuned in to the situation. "Thankfully the rest of the genin had just finished their exercises and were at the bridge with us when we spotted it, we left them guarding Tazuna and came as quickly as we could."

"Can I leave these two with you?" asked Kakashi to which Kurenai nodded before the copy ninja vanished from sight.

"I-I-I'm sorry," muttered Hinata as the whole situation dawned on her.

"It's okay, the main thing is that you two are still alive," said Kurenai trying to make the Hyūga see the positive side of things.

"What about Naruto?" asked Sakura looking at Kurenai with pleading eyes. The Jōnin however couldn't give a suitable answer, knowing that Naruto had been fighting somebody of her or Kakashi's calibre. She looked towards the direction that Kakashi had run and only prayed that he returned with good news.

Kakashi eyed the battle scene, taking in the entire surroundings. No doubt the fight had been fierce, the smouldering ashes of a huge fire could easily vouch for that. Yet there was no sign of Naruto nor whoever he had been fighting. He knew he could summon his dogs to try and track him down but even he could tell that the smell of smoke in the air would prevent them from being to pick up a noticeable scent for at least twenty minutes. Plus he could see from footprints on the ground much of the fight had been conducted on the water, meaning that it would be even harder to pick up a noticeable scent. His head dropped slightly, praying that Naruto was alright.

...

Naruto hit the ground with a resounding thump, the ropes bounding his body preventing him from slowing down his fall as the side of his face connected with the floorboards. His body was covered in blood, some of which was not his own. "Well Zabuza, seems you're not totally useless after all," said Gato with a smug smirk, looking down at the blonde boy. Zabuza took the insult head on but didn't vocally retaliate, knowing that he still needed payment after all of this. "So you're the little fucker who has been giving the villagers hope, you're not from around here brat, you shouldn't have stuck your nose in the business of others."

"Part of my character," said Naruto as he pushed himself to his knees, a considerable feat considering the condition he was in. Zabuza took this opportunity to look at Naruto and noticed something wrong, clearly remembering the vicious slice he had delivered across the boy's chest. The boy behind the mask had also noticed this, having rendezvoused with Zabuza on the way back to Gato's hideout.

Gato looked at Naruto for a moment before backhanding him across the face, Naruto's head twisting from the impact. "You goody two shoes sicken me, you know that?" said Gato.

"Do now," said Naruto which only caused him to be struck again.

"I was going to enjoy slitting your throat tomorrow for all the villagers to see, but my men have informed me that there are other Konoha shinobi in the area."

"Seriously, you only figured that out now?" said Naruto in confusion, his words causing anger to swell up within Gato.

"That's it you fucker, hope you enjoy your stay in hell," said Gato with contained fury as he picked up an ornamented dagger from nearby, the hilt encrusted with a number of jewels.

"Nice dagger," said Naruto as Gato walked up to him, holding the blade to his neck. "I'll be sure to take it from your lifeless body."

Gato froze momentarily at the words before he noticed the strangest phenomenon occur as Naruto's eyes changed from blue to red. It would only me moments later when all hell broke loose.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Elemental Demon Sage: Trust me, this is one of my more frequently updated stories. I'm a university student so while I enjoy writing I have to prioritize other things first.**

**I'm Solo: I know the marijuana thing is overused, however there is going to be a reason behind its use and hopefully from it will come an underlying message.**

**Ebm6969: Jealousy is a man's best friend...isn't it?**

**Nargus: Never in this story is it said that Naruto is an ex-ANBU, he is an ex-Chūnin...you might be getting this confused with another Ramen Chef story.**

**Peace out!**


	14. Homeward Bound

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Sakura stared out into vacant space, the sun long since set on this troubled day. It had been hours since she and Hinata had been defeated but there had been no sign of Naruto. Gingerly, she shifted slightly, her arm painfully jolting a bit which caused her to grip her shoulder as if trying to keep the limb still. The medications she had taken had reduced the pain significantly but to no extent was it gone. She knew she'd have to wait until she got back to Konoha before a medic nin could heal her arm to an extent where it would be fully restored within only a couple of weeks rather than the months that would be required under a normal doctor.

"Are you okay?" asked a voice from nearby, causing Sakura to look up and find Sasuke standing there. This had been the first time she had heard him speak since he and the other genin had been informed of Naruto going missing; hardly a word had been spoken at the dinner table.

"I'm fine," she said in a monotone, something which immediately told Sasuke that something was wrong with his teammate. The problem being though was that he didn't know how to respond to it. For years he had played the isolated one, the constant feeling of loneliness created from the loss of his family. To see somebody in the same mood that he had shouldered for so long brought him to the realisation that he was not the only one who suffered.

"You know...sensei told me a story last night, about how he lost his teammates," started Sasuke wondering if it should be him telling this story. "He used their deaths however not to sink into depression, but as a determination to grow stronger so that nothing like that ever happened again."

Sakura blinked a few times as she listened to Sasuke's words. It was true, if either she or Hinata had been stronger than one of them would have been able to hold off the masked ninja so that the other could have gotten the reinforcements necessary to combat against the threat. Naruto had entrusted them with getting help, and they had let him down. She subconsciously forced her hand into a fist, her nails digging into her palm before she calmed down significantly. "Thanks," she said before turning away, her gaze focusing once again on the forest. "I won't believe he's dead however until I see his body."

"Me neither," said Hinata walking into view, taking a seat next to Sakura. Sasuke looked at the back of the two kunoichi, part of him wanting to tell them that it was hopeless to wish for such a thing but he didn't want to break their spirit.

"I'll tell sensei you're taking first shift then," he said as he turned around, the sound of footsteps echoing as he walked away.

"Hinata," said Sakura softly, the Hyūga heir turning to face her. "Could we have done anything?" Hinata opened her mouth to respond but no words came out, sniffing slightly before her head rolled onto Sakura's shoulder, tears slowly rolling down her face. Her emotions were quickly joined by Sakura as she began to cry silently as well.

...

Kakashi and Kurenai stepped out onto the porch a little over an hour later when everybody had gone to bed to find the two genin asleep, yet even in their dreams they seemed to suffer if the soft whining was anything to go by. "So what now?" asked Kurenai looking to the former head of the ANBU for answers.

"They're hurting, not just physically but mentally," stated Kakashi keeping his visible eye on the genin at his feet. "From this experience they'll grow stronger but the time they'll need to prepare themselves for active duty again is unpredictable. Could be days, weeks, even longer to the point where they may not even return to active duty; rather they might continue to grow stronger until they believe they can take on anything the world throws at them."

"In that case, I'll take these two back to Konoha tomorrow for medical attention and we'll see what happens after that," said Kurenai.

"That won't be necessary," said a voice from within the forest, causing the two Jōnin to lift their heads. Out of the shadows of the nearby woods stepped a young teenager, his blonde hair stained with blood illuminated by the moonlight. It wasn't just on their head however, it covered them in entirety from their torso to their legs. In one hand he held a silver briefcase, the contents yet unknown. In his other hand however was something much more gruesome, the severed head of a multi-millionaire in the other.

"Back from the dead," stated Kakashi, looking at his former apprentice as Kurenai rushed up to the blonde, motherly instincts kicking in seeing the teenager covered in blood that wasn't completely his own. The ramen chef could do nothing as Kakashi chuckled in the background as he made his way closer to the teenager. "So, care to explain this?"

"Self explanatory don't you think," said Naruto with a shrug, heartlessly tossing Gato's head to the ground.

"Not quite what I meant, what about Zabuza?" asked Kakashi wondering what had happened to the former member of the Mist's seven swordsmen.

"We came to an understanding," said Naruto smiling, creating a frightening figure considering the amount of blood he had bathed in.

...

_To say Gato's headquarters was a mess would be an understatement. Limbs and body parts were strewn everywhere, blood lied in pools of blood across the floor. From behind his mask Zabuza smirked as he wiped the blood off of his weapon. "Seems like I wasn't the only one holding back in our fight," he stated, his eyes directed at the blonde sitting atop a mangled piece of furniture, the wooden frame barely holding his weight_

"_Your objective was to capture me, hence why you couldn't go all out," said Naruto as he stared at the roof. "When I figured that you weren't out to kill me, my objective was to slay this ass hole," he concluded pointing his thumb at the remains of Gato. "The people are safe, there's no reason for you to kill the bridge builder, all is right with the world."_

"_For now," said Zabuza as he turned to a nearby doorway, Haku standing at the doorway with a three briefcases in his grasp. With a swing of his hand one of the briefcases flew towards Naruto, the blonde catching the case but the excess weight caused the table underneath him to collapse._

"_Cheers," said Naruto waving his spare hand in front of his face, coughing slightly._

"_After all this, there is something I want to know," said Zabuza sharpening his eyes onto Naruto. "Just then, everything about you seemed to become more intense, your attacks fluid yet vicious at the same time but for the briefest of moments you looked at my eyes and it looked as if you had cast a genjutsu over yourself to see everything in only a haze of blood."_

"_Trust me it's a lot more complicated than that and nothing that I'd really appreciate sharing," said Naruto as he opened the silver briefcase to see it completely filled with money. "So you've got your money with excess bloodshed, but it was enjoyable while it lasted."_

"_You're starting to sound like a young me," stated Zabuza and while Naruto could agree he knew it was lasting effects from using the Kyuubi's chakra. He knew that it gave him an immense power boost but he didn't have enough control to use it for extended periods of time before he started observing friends as potential enemies._

"_You give me too much credit," said Naruto, getting to his feet as he picked up the jewel encrusted dagger, twirling it in his fingers several times before finding a belt nearby. Wrapping the leather around his waist, he pierced through it with the point of the blade before sliding it down so that the hilt gently pressed against the side of his stomach. "So where will you go from here?"_

"_Well because of our mutual hatred for that bastard, we are now successfully able to finance something that we have been working on for a long time," said Zabuza. "What about you, how you going to spend your newfound savings?"_

"_Take a bit for myself, need some new equipment but then I'll give the rest to the village, one last final piece of hope before I piss off back to Konoha," explained Naruto._

"_You would give away so much money?" asked Haku from the side._

"_It was theirs in the first place, I'm simply returning what I found," said Naruto with a shrug._

"_I'd say that sort of thinking won't get you far in the ninja world but you've managed to get this far with the same attitude," chuckled Zabuza as he stood up, preparing to leave. "Perhaps one day our paths will cross again, hopefully it won't be as enemies."_

"_We can only hope," said Naruto as Zabuza walked out of the doorway, Haku about to follow before Naruto called out to him. "Thanks for not killing my friends."_

"_No problem, I take it Zabuza wishes for you to deal the final blow so I can only wish that you enjoy yourself," said Haku before he turned and walked away from sight. Naruto ran his hand through his hair before placing the briefcase on the ground, turning his attention to the corner his eyes fell upon a bound and gagged Gato, several cuts still bled from various limbs, nothing life threatening as of so far. Gato's eyes flew wide as Naruto walked towards him, wondering what hideous jutsu was going to be used on him. Naruto would not give him such satisfaction however as he reached across his waist and pulled out the ornamental dagger._

"_Maybe a little ironic but either way I'm going to enjoy this," said Naruto as his shadow loomed over Gato who tried to back away in fear._

_..._

"Long story short, bridge builder is safe, Gato's dead, I got a sweet dagger and the town is not going to be going hungry for a long time to come," concluded Naruto down by the riverbed, Kurenai having dragged him down so that he could clean himself in the pristine waters.

"Killing off a millionaire may not have been one of your smarter ideas," said Kakashi having listened to the entire thing.

"Or fighting alongside a missing nin who could have stabbed you in the back at any time," added Kurenai. "Honestly what were you thinking?"

"Slay the bastard, free the town?" shrugged Naruto as he undressed, the kunoichi turning away to allow Naruto at least some level of modesty. "Anyways, it's not like I can go back and bring him back to life, the fact that I left his head on the porch is proof enough of that."

"You left it on the porch?" said Kurenai making sure she got this right.

"Yeah, a head isn't really something that I wanted to bring down to the river, who knows what people might think of that."

"Did you think what might occur if one of the girls wake up to find it there?" asked Kakashi. Naruto opened his mouth to respond but was cut off as a shrill shriek pierced through the night sky. The blonde teenager could only smile awkwardly at the situation as Kakashi shook his head, Kurenai leaping towards the house to help explain the situation to those now awake.

...

"Thank you for everything," said Tazuna gratefully at the water's edge, the shinobi standing there, the two young girls looking worse for wear as the group stood together alongside Naruto. If the initial fright hadn't been enough for the girl's to be scared about, the fact that Naruto was actually still alive and well nearly gave them a second heart attack. When Tazuna had seen Gato's dismembered head at first he had been filled with fear but when Naruto had explained what had happened, a sense of relief had washed over him. With no danger on his life anymore, he was willing to send the shinobi back to Konoha with a big stamp of approval.

"We're just happy that everything turned out for the best," said Kakashi as he looked at the genin, happy that they had experienced the fact that they always needed to be prepared for any type of situation.

"If there is any way for us to repay you, let us know and we'll be there immediately," said Tazuna smiling broader than he had in years.

"There'll come a time," said Kurenai knowing that the life of a ninja was unpredictable at best. "Tell Tsunami that I'll come visit next time I'm around."

"Will do," said Tazuna.

"Alright then, let's get moving," said Kakashi as the genin started to pile into the small boat, the driver both happy that the bridge was going to be built but upset that his business was going to be destroyed.

"Oh two things," said Naruto with one foot on the wooden frame of the boat, turning his head to look at Tazuna.

"What is it?" asked the bridge builder.

"I left a case back at your house, divide it up fairly will you. Secondly, I worked out the perfect proportion." While the first statement may have left Tazuna slightly confused, he immediately picked up on the second meaning and couldn't help but chuckle as the last of the ninja hopped on to the little boat.

"Take care of yourselves now," he said with a wave as the boat was pushed off of the riverbank. As the small vessel sunk into nothingness out of sight, Tazuna couldn't help but wonder what was in the case that Naruto had left him.

...

It would be just under two days later when the two teams arrived back at Konoha, having travelled faster than they had with Tazuna in the group but not too fast that it might risk further injury to Sakura. To the genin looking at the outside of the gate, it gave a sense of nostalgia having never looked at their home from this angle before. "Alright Sakura, let's get you to the hospital," said Kakashi, focusing his attention on his injured pupil. The pink haired girl simply nodded in understanding, knowing that it was something that had to be done.

"The rest of you can head home," said Kurenai. "I'll handle the mission report by myself." The genin nodded before they started to walk off, each heading their separate ways as they passed the thick walls that protected their city. With at least half a day still remaining, Naruto was looking forward to going and seeing his mentor at Ichiraku Ramen and tell him of the ingredients he had picked up in Wave before opening shop again. He was prevented from going anywhere however as Kurenai gripped the back of his rucksack. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked in an intimidating tone.

"Set up shop, where else would I be going?" asked Naruto in confusion.

"No you don't, you're coming with me to the mission briefing," stated Kurenai.

"You said you'd handle it by yourself," said Naruto turning around to look at the Jōnin.

"Yes, now explain how I can handle talking to the Sandaime and explain to him how a ninja who hasn't been in active duty for a number of years can successfully hold his own against an A ranked missing nin. You're coming with me one way or another," she said threateningly.

"Like hell I will!" exclaimed Naruto but before he could leap away, Kurenai gripped him by the ear, her fingers pressing into it painfully.

"Come on," she said as she dragged him forward, the blonde teenager struggling and cursing as she pulled him along. Kakashi and Sakura, having been the only two to have remained couldn't help but chuckle at the situation.

"Alright then, let's get you fixed up Sakura," said Kakashi as he led his student through the gates. Sakura smiled as she walked into familiar ground but couldn't help but hope that she would be discharged quickly, allowing her to go out for lunch tomorrow at an all too familiar Ramen bar.

...

Speaking with the Sandaime had been unnerving to say the best for Naruto, the leader of the village very eager to know every detail of Naruto's fight with Zabuza to the point where he thought it'd be easier to re-enact the whole bloody thing. As he was talking though he could tell that Kurenai was standing behind him suppressing herself from bursting out into fits of laughter. "Note to self, Kurenai now gets extra spice," he muttered, going to deal revenge the simplest way he knew how.

After having seen Teuchi and Ayame, enjoying a bowl of Ramen as he did, he found himself standing outside of his shop, minutely disturbed that Anko was sulking nearby, her silent cries of wanting 'Ramen' could be heard from where he was standing. Naruto had a light laugh before he walked up to the entrance, placing the key in the lock before turning it, allowing entry to the shop once again. Hardly two seconds had passed between him opening the door and Anko tackling him to the ground affectionately, her keen hearing having heard the all too familiar click of the lock.

"You're back!" she said happily, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks.

"Yes, yes," said Naruto trying to push her off to no avail. "If you get off me Anko I'll let you try a new recipe I've been working on."

That got her off of him in a flash before Naruto pushed himself on to his feet, brushing dirt off his pants as he did. "Ooh are you adding a new type of spice, or did you pick up some ultra rare fish?" asked Anko excitedly, wondering what sensation her taste buds were going to receive.

"Trust me, if you don't like this Ramen that a bridge builder and I discussed I don't think anyone will," said Naruto with a smile as he walked inside and mentally prepared himself for a new day at work.

**Hope you enjoyed. Now that we've escaped the disastrous Canon series we can start getting back into the fresh stuff.**

**Lazruth: The way I end my chapters is more or less how I've done it since I began writing my more recent stories...possibly due to me having read a lot of Matthew Reilly.**

**Elemental Demon Sage: It's not that I work 24 hours a day, rather I work night shifts and get to sleep around 6/7 in the morning. With it being summer, when I wake up and it is 38.C (roughly 105 Fahrenheit) like hell I'm going to sit around and write when it's such a great day outside.**

**Raw666: The conversation between the Sandaime and Hiashi state that he could take the Jōnin exam and possibly pass it, not that it was guaranteed.**

**Please review, it helps motivate me. Peace out!**


	15. Love Unbound

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

...

Sakura walked out of the hospital and stretched her arm, happy to once again have a range of movement. She had been forced to stay overnight so that doctors could check on her condition in the morning. As she had left she had been instructed not to do any strenuous activities for at least a week before doing gentle strength building exercises to get her up and running in perfect condition again. In her pocket she carried a medical certificate to give to Kakashi so that he knew not to push her too hard. She knew that she should probably see her mother but knowing her, she would be in the middle of meetings now and only get back home in the middle of the afternoon. As such, she was looking forward to indulging in some high quality food.

"Sakura!" exclaimed a voice from nearby, causing the pink haired genin to turn her face to see Ino standing there. Sakura raised her hand and was about to respond before she noticed the blush on Ino's cheeks as the Yamanaka heir turned away from her, opting to look at the ground. Sakura quickly recalled what had happened between the two of them and she suddenly found that no words could come to her mouth, her vocal chords refusing to respond. With the mission having ended with a man returning from death, her thoughts on Konoha had been slim at best. To have the situation suddenly thrown into her face, she was uncertain how to respond.

Slowly, Sakura turned around, not wanting to endure this confrontation at the moment. She didn't get far however before her wrist was seized by Ino's hand, causing her to turn her head to find Ino standing there with a saddened look in her face. Sakura could see that there were tears forming in Ino's eyes and it pained her greatly that her best friend was looking at her in such a way. Her lips moved to say something but she was cut off as she was pulled forward, Ino embracing her in a wild hug. Sakura stood there dumbfounded before she wrapped her arms around Ino's waist, smiling lightly as she did so. "Let's talk over lunch," she said softly as she broke the hug, Ino only able to nod in response as she wiped the residue from her eyes.

...

"Yosh, if I cannot finish this new ramen in less than a minute I shall do fifty laps around Konoha with a boulder strapped to my back," proclaimed Lee as the steaming bowl of food was placed in front of him.

"Lee, your spirit shines as bright as ever!" Proclaimed Gai, tears swelling in his eyes as food was placed in front of him. "Tenten, we are so lucky that you sensed this place opening today."

"Seriously, I haven't even been open for more than a day, how the hell did you realise that this place was open?" asked Naruto looking at the brunette.

"A woman has her ways," said Tenten tossing Naruto a coy smile at which he chuckled to.

"Alright don't tell me then," said Naruto with a shrug, knowing that he would probably get the information out of the genin by the time the moon rose. "Anyway Gai, the Chūnin exams are coming up shortly aren't they, will your teams flames of youth be ready?"

"Not only will they be ready, they will burn the brightest of them all," said Gai heroically, his fist tightening to the point where his knuckles were white.

"Good to hear," said Naruto as he looked over the team, all three genin eating away at the food put in front of them. "C'mon Gai, eat up already."

"I shall do so with gusto," stated Gai as he picked up several noodles with his chopsticks and quickly inhaled the food. After he swallowed however he paused momentarily, there was a single taste in there he was uncertain of yet at the same time it was very familiar. His eyes widened in shock however as the answers came to him and he quickly turned his attention to Lee as if expecting the Genin to be in a heavy trance. When nothing happened however, a wave of confusion ran over him as he looked towards Naruto for answers.

"I remember you explaining in a drunken tale about how Lee gets when he has even the slightest taste of alcohol, hence why I ensured that his food is the only one not spiked," explained Naruto.

"A thousand thanks," said Gai with a slight bow. "I must ask though, the taste is faint yet distinct at the same time. Through what ingredient did you make this dish so youthful?"

Naruto leant forward as to ensure that Lee didn't overhear what he was about to tell the genin's sensei. "For Lee here I just chucked in a few minor yet distinctive herbs that will make him believe he is having something completely different, a few basil leaves and some other things I had lying around. As for the rest of you, when I was talking with a bridge builder, he raised the idea of Sake induced Ramen. I toyed with the idea every night, trying to mentally create the perfect mixture. However Sake has a too refined texture to it, and I feared that I would lose customers as a result."

Gai took a moment to look around at the rest of the restaurant to see that it had even more customers than what he was used to, many of them laughing among one another happily. "Yet you still put some manner of alcohol in it," he whispered to Naruto as a clone walked behind the original.

"Instead of Sake, I used some vodka I imported from Snow country many months ago," explained Naruto. "It is quite potent so I have done my best to limit the amount within the meal but at the same time enough so that people have a good time. This specific brand is only has a minute taste to it which prevents most people from picking up on it."

Gai took in the information before leaning back and bursting with laughter. "Only a great chef could come up with a way to exploit his customers in such a way while playing with potentially their biggest weakness, your fires of youth truly burn brightly Naruto."

"Thank you," said Naruto chuckling as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Now if you will excuse me, I must dine on this specially made dish, you will likely have my youthful approval in minutes," said Gai excitedly as he looked down at his bowl of Ramen, blinking momentarily as he realised it was missing. He looked up at Naruto for answers but the Ramen Chef could only shrug in confusion. It was looking at the people sitting around him however that true fear came to realisation. There was Lee, quickly inhaling the food at a rapid pace, an empty bowl already in front of him.

"Lee, NO!" shouted Gai but it was too late as the genin finished off his sensei's meal as a blurry look spread across his features.

"Oh shit," said Naruto as he started to see the early warning signs. He looked to Neji for support but the genin had lifted his knees up to his chest, the horrible memories from the last drunken Lee experience rushing to his mind, the thoughts still haunting him to this day.

"Chef-san, we must wrestle arms to burn our youthful fires," said Lee, mixing his words before he placed his elbow on the counter, using too much force however as his arm sunk into the wood.

"Lee, calm down," said Naruto holding his hands up in front of the spandex clad teenager, his actions were misinterpreted however.

"So you want a challenge! I'll give you challenge!" shouted Lee, moments before all hell broke loose.

...

Kurenai sighed as she walked down the streets, her hands crossed over her chest as her mind was deep in a state of thinking. She had just been given information which crippled her team significantly, not only that but the balance had been broken to say the least. The third member of her genin squad had quit being a ninja in order to follow their father's footsteps. As a result, she would have to wait until the next batch of genin had finished to pick a suitable replacement, but by then the difference in quality between her original genin and the new member would be significant. The odds of them being able to work together as a cohesive unit were slim to say the best.

Not only that but she had to worry about the Chūnin exams coming up. If she could somehow manage to get both of her students through the exam they could potentially reach a higher rank and as such not need to obtain a third student. She knew Kakashi would likely nominate his students, as would Asuma but as such it would likely deal a harsh blow to Hinata's mind frame, the Hyūga princess' would lose a lot of self confidence. Considering how long it took to get her to this stage, watching her fellow genin proceed quicker than her would be devastating. As for Shino, the bug user would probably be as impassive as always.

Kurenai sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair; she was not looking forward to the team meeting tomorrow under any circumstances. Making her way towards the Lawless zone, she knew that she needed a tall glass of something strong.

...

Ino and Sakura walked in silence as they got into the lawless zone, effectively taking out a thug who had tried to take their money as they entered. Sakura took a quick look to the side and wasn't surprised to see her teammate in Sasuke, sitting at the gambling den with a small wad of cash by his side. Whether or not he was up or down, she wasn't sure but she would talk to him about it later, right now she was already in an awkward scenario.

When the two genin reached Naruto's ramen joint, they were surprised to see all of the ninja helping restore the place after what looked like a hurricane had swept through. Broken pieces of wood lay riddled across the ground as random pieces of furniture were tossed into a massive pile. Sitting outside in an unconscious heap was the instantly recognisable for of their fellow genin Lee.

"What happened here?" asked Sakura looking to any of the ninja to help her.

A random Chūnin stopped what he was doing to look at them, a sense of fear staining his eyes. "It was horrible, it was as if a beast had awakened and hell itself wished to join the party," he said in a shaky voice before resuming his duty.

"That...didn't really give any answers," said Ino who had no real clue as to what was going on.

"Thanks again for your help guys," said the instantly recognisable voice of Naruto.

"Any time," said a few nearby shinobi as they finished their respected tasks. As the blonde chef looked around, his eyes fell onto a group that looked like they could use a hand he created a handful of clones with the instruction to help where necessary.

"For any ninja who helps clean up, Gai will shout them a bowl of ramen," said Naruto in a loud voice and immediately the work rate picked up. Gai froze momentarily as he began to calculate the damage his wallet would take, however after what his student had done due to him not watching his food carefully, he believed this was a just punishment. Having heard Naruto's offer, Sakura and Ino shared a brief look amongst one another before they helped in the clean up process if for nothing more than a free meal.

...

Fifteen minutes later, the restaurant was in business once again, a single area which Lee had demolished had been taped off with a warning label placed over it stating 'Do not give mini-Gai alcohol.' Needless to say, this warning would be taken very seriously. Ino and Sakura found themselves sitting in the back corner, as far away from the crowds as possible. In front of them were two bowls of freshly made Ramen, Naruto having been working overtime to get as much food out for his customers as possible.

Neither of the genin however had touched the food out in front of them. Naruto, having seen the awkward situation between best friends, sighed as he pulled out a bottle of Sake and marched towards their table, placing a cup in front of each girl before gently putting the bottle on the table. "On the house," he said in the hope that it would help them relax.

"Cheers," said Sakura as she quickly poured herself a glass, downing it within seconds, Ino copying her moments later.

"Sakura," said Ino softly getting the pink haired girl to look at her. "What happened that night was silly, I shouldn't have asked Naruto to put me in that genjutsu and none of this would be happening."

"Ino, when did you start feeling that way about me?" asked Sakura.

"At school," admitted the blonde as she looked outside the window. "We'd spend days chasing Sasuke and a rivalry formed between us, but from that rivalry I began to have feelings for you and eventually I only chased Sasuke so I could be competitive with you."

Sakura swallowed as she took in all of the information, wondering how she should react to the situation. To think that the bitterness that had been between them over a boy had actually spawned something much greater was a lot to take in. "I know you have feelings for Naruto," continued Ino. "Just know that I love you and it doesn't matter if my love isn't returned."

"Ino," said Sakura making the Yamanaka stop. "True I may have feelings for a boy, but I'd rather lose him a dozen times over if it meant that we would still be friends. You've been with me for as long as I can remember and if this is what our relationship becomes...then I'm...willing to give it a try."

The words may have sounded awkward coming out of her mouth, but when she looked at Ino to see the happiness in her face, she knew she had done the right thing. "Thank you," muttered Ino as she grabbed Sakura's hands, holding them tightly.

"Isn't this romantic," said Anko with a broad smile as she looked over the small wall which separated her booth from the genins'. "Here I was thinking I was the only one who fancied other women but go for it you two."

"You're a lesbian?" asked Ino looking over her shoulder.

"And proud of it!" proclaimed Anko. "Just because it's not the normal thing doesn't mean it's the right thing. Do whatever your heart tells you to do and if some guy says that it's wrong don't hesitate to knock 'em out."

Despite their privacy having been invaded by the creepy snake woman, her words of reassurance actually helped the situation as Ino turned back to Sakura, a genuine smile on both their lips. "Want to go to the movies later?" asked Ino excitedly.

"After we finish this," said Sakura indicating the food in front of them which was still hot. Ino nodded as the two girls began to eat. Sakura's eyes looked at Ino for a moment longer, recalling how her mother had instructed her as a child to always try something at least once and now she couldn't help but wonder if her mother would come to hate saying that.

...

The movie that Ino and Sakura had chosen was your simple romance comedy sort of situation. Neither of them had tried any cheesy moves, such as the stretch over the shoulder. Yet the movie didn't seem important anymore as they both reached for the popcorn only for their fingers to brush together. Both of them looked at their fingers before they instinctively intertwined among one another. Their eyes gently rose towards their counterpart, their noses only inches apart.

Ino began to lean forward, Sakura remaining there as she closed her eyes. She quickly felt the kiss, Ino's lips pressing against hers before breaking contact. Sakura opened her eyes to find Ino smiling as she turned her attention back to the movie. While the kiss hadn't been as forced or as powerful as the last one that they had shared, it was enough for the moment and they both felt a feeling of content.

Unnoticed by anyone, a clone under the disguise of a henge burst from existence, making the original smile as they continued about their work.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Raw666: Who do the civilians hate more, that's a tough question. Their hatred would likely be focused on Naruto but with all these people protecting him it would be split up, as to who would receive the most hatred, I cannot say.**

**ArtanisRose: As you can see, while the idea for Sake ramen was there, I changed it because of taste. I'd like to say I experimented with both myself but maybe some other day.**

**Scrimjaninja: As Anko has stated, women only.**

**Insanelyproudninja: True, not much might have happened in the prior chapter but what did happen was necessary for the story to continue.**

**See you next time. Please review; Raz out.**


	16. Toying with Fire

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Sasuke couldn't believe his manner of luck, the amount of money he had won from various gambling holes was astonishing. The entrepreneur within him was wondering if he should create his own little gambling den since despite him winning constantly, he could see that the dealers were still making money off of everybody else. It was when he looked up at the dealer he was shocked to see a scared look upon the man's face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Kid, I think you need to go to the hospital, something freaky has happened to your eyes."

"My eyes?" questioned Sasuke, wondering what had happened.

...

Kurenai's spoon sifted through her Ramen broth, having already delved through the central ingredients she was merely playing with the leftover liquid as if merely killing time. Next to her bowl sat a half drunk Sake bottle, and next to that three empty ones. Considering she had only been in the store for fifteen minutes it was a solid effort to say the least. Many feared to approach her however, they had learnt from experience what talking to the Genjutsu Mistress could do to the mind when she was in such a mood. It helped that her central threat including making the victim believe they were wearing a tight green spandex suit while screaming about the joys of youth. Only a handful of people were bold enough to get in contact with Kurenai at this stage, one of whom had just placed a handful of dirty bowls into the kitchen.

"What's troubling you?" asked Naruto as he leapt over the counter and graciously landed on the stool next to where Kurenai sat. Since it was nearing closing time he didn't have to worry about too many more customers entering his establishment and those that did would be taken care of by his clones.

"You know how when we went to Wave," started Kurenai who still seemed clear headed despite going through a spiked meal and nearly four bottles of Sake, "I only brought Shino and Hinata along. That was because my third genin was ill at the time and I went to see him earlier today to see how he was going. Sadly though, while he was ill he had time to think about what he wanted to do in life, and as such has quit being a shinobi."

"So your three man team is down to two," analysed Naruto as he reached over the counter and grabbed a bottle of Sake for himself. "So I take it your team will be unable to compete in the Chunin exams."

"There's no possible way," said Kurenai as she grabbed her Sake bottle and took a swig. "If either of the girls that Kakashi and Asuma are training manage to be promoted, I don't know how Hinata would react, it would be devastating for her self confidence."

"Well it's not like there's a shinobi around their age with skills that would allow them to help your team as a temporary third member to help them through the exams," said Naruto. When he didn't receive a reply however, he turned his head to find Kurenai staring at him with fascination, as if pondering over what he had just said. Quickly, Naruto realised where this was going. "No! Bad Kurenai!"

"Please," begged the Genjutsu Mistress placing her hands together in a pleading position.

"My former tag says I'm a Chūnin, last I checked, Chūnins can't enter the Chūnin exam," said Naruto wanting to put his foot down.

"It'd be easy to get a fake license around here," said Kurenai hopefully.

"Stop this madness Kurenai," said Naruto as Kurenai placed her hands in a seal. Quickly sensing the danger his mind was in, Naruto's hands flicked through the necessary seals before pausing on the last one. For the longest of moments they stared down one another as fellow patrons watched on intrigued. Only then did the amount of alcohol in Kurenai's system kicked in and she swayed significantly to the point she fell off her stool and hit the ground.

Naruto sighed in relief as he disconnected his fingers whilst a nearby Chūnin quickly went to Kurenai's side. "Make sure she gets home alright," said Naruto genuinely to which the Chūnin nodded, tossing Kurenai's arm over their shoulder as they hoisted her to her feet.

"Wheres we goin?" she asked whilst slurring her words, the Chūnin ignoring her as they helped her outside. When Kurenai was finally out of the store, everything seemed to resume to normal as chatter and eating once again resumed. Naruto ran a hand through his hair as he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around he saw Anko looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Umm..." he said with no real idea why the Snake Mistress was looking at him in such a way. He knew that the way she dressed was a rue to get men interested in her only for her to then shoot her down.

"Is it alright if I go...'check' on Kuri-chan?" she asked in a sweet tone.

"You're asking permission?" asked Naruto in return.

"Well if I do something wrong with your friend you'd cut me off," said Anko and it was only then that Naruto's eyes gazed up and saw a number of Sake bottles on Anko's table, not one of them had a drop left in them.

"Fine," said Naruto causing the snake mistress to extend her arms around Naruto's neck and embrace him in a hug. Sadly though with the shift of weight Naruto was quickly pulled off of the stool and landed on top of Anko, his head buried within the soft mounds atop Anko's chest.

Many of the ninja who had been watching this braced for all hell to break loose, very few men had ever gotten so close to Anko and even less so walked away in only minute pain. They were shocked however as Anko cracked up laughing as she released Naruto allowing his head to rise. "You know Naru-kun, you're probs the only man I'd ever let touch me," she said with a smile before she scrambled to her feet and ran out of the restaurant, hitting a pillar on the way through in search of Kuri-chan. Naruto however was frozen momentarily, wondering how he'd manage to get control of one of the most feared women in Konoha and have survived first contact. Getting to his feet, he turned his attention to the door where he saw Tenten making her way towards the store, turning his head momentarily to see that his clones had just finished her Ramen. Picking up his Sake bottle, he downed the rest of it in one go, realising that tonight was going to be a long night.

...

"I see your Sharingan has developed," said Kakashi as he looked at his student.

"I know," said Sasuke having realised that practically when the man had pointed it out.

"Well we can start training it tomorrow considering Sakura's out for a while," said Kakashi, having run into the young kunoichi earlier in the day when he had been helping clean up Naruto's place. "I'm sure I can get Kiba to do something as well and we can do some hefty work." Sasuke's eyes seemed to beam at his sensei, despite the rest of his face hardly changing at all.

"Yes sensei," he said, happy that he was now going to be taught something besides seemingly mundane teamwork exercises. He turned to leave, making his way towards his house.

"Don't even think of asking Naruto to fight you now that you've unlocked your Sharingan," warned Kakashi. "All it will do will allow you to see what his fist will do before it hits your face."

Sasuke grumbled at that but knew that Kakashi was right to a degree. He had been told on many occasions that his Sharingan allowed many things, however if he was able to see an attack coming at a speed faster than he could react to, there was literally no point. His mind shifted elsewhere however, wondering that if any of his relatives had utilised their powers in gambling situations like he accidentally had earlier. With a stride in his step, he knew that he needed to look through his family scrolls a little more closely.

...

Hinata sat in the garden, her back resting against a rock as she looked towards the sky as the first stars began to illuminate the sky. Her fingers gently caressed over her lips as she recalled the sensation she had felt when Naruto and her had shared that moment in Tsunami's bathroom. Every night she had replayed that memory as if she wished to treasure it forever. After the mission however she had been afraid to approach Naruto, knowing that she had seen a completely different side of him out in Wave. Also, now that he was back in Konoha she would not be the only one showing affection towards the blonde.

Having watched Sakura and Naruto act at the campsite prior to reaching Wave, she could tell that the pink haired genin and Naruto shared at least some sort of connection. Then there was Tenten, the brown haired girl having known Naruto the longest out of the genin. Not only that but she was the one who seemed the most comfortable around him, the kunoichi being able to talk to Naruto as if they were the best of friends. Then there was the list of people she hadn't even begun to consider, those included all of the women who ate at his restaurant.

With a sigh she closed her eyes, a sigh escaping her lips as she wondered if she should go confront him tonight.

...

Sasuke stared at the little tin in front of him. Having gone through a number of scrolls he had neglected to read once upon a time for thinking them to be dull, he had discovered not only that his family were great gamblers, but they had an array of attacks he'd never even imagined. It would seem that those who took their gambling to a new level of seriousness had created their own Shuriken but rather than being metal stars, they were cards.

At first glance they looked like ordinary playing cards but as he lifted them out of the tin he could instantly feel the weight underneath them despite being so thin. Not only that but the edges were sharpened to the point where as he ran his finger over a corner it managed to pierce his skin and draw blood. His fingers began sorting through the deck and he was amazed to find that every card one would find in a standard playing deck was there.

Plucking the Ace of Spades out of the deck, he tossed it at a nearby wall and was surprised to see that instead of going in a straight line it had a curve to it. He quickly realised that this was due to the difference in shape to a normal shuriken which was circular as opposed to the rectangular cards. He knew that it was possible to bend the flight of standard shuriken but it the metal weapon needed to be thrown at a specific angle along with a twist of the wrist, making the technique extremely difficult. Placing the cards down and opening the scroll, he decided that a little more research was needed before he put the cards into action.

...

Naruto's eyes blinked open as the first rays of the morning light began to seep into his room. Breathing deeply, he could feel the weight of an arm spread across his chest and turned his head to the side to find Tenten sleeping there, although from the signs she was beginning to wake up as well. "Morning," he muttered as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Not morning, morning means training," grumbled Tenten pressing her eyelids together. Naruto chuckled slightly as he lifted his arms over his he placed his hands at the back of his skull. He watched as Tenten rolled over dragging a decent part of the blanket with her. His eyes focused however as he saw that both of her hands were gripping the blanket while he still felt a weight upon his chest. Turning his head, his eyes spotted a tuff of hair sticking out from underneath the blanket, hair that he knew belonged to a certain member of the Hyuga clan. Lifting part of the blanket up, he found himself staring at the body with a sense of fear. "Hiashi's going to kill me," he muttered as Hanabi's eyes began to flicker open.

...

**Hope you enjoyed. Before you complain about the length, know that I'm heading on holiday tomorrow and will have limited access to technology, meaning that I won't even look at a computer for a week. Now that that's out of the way.**

**For those of you complaining about the change in pairings: This story develops as it goes, none of the pairings are final.**

**Kingswriter: Sex addict Neji...can't really imagine that one.**

**Anon:...maybe.**

**Please review and you'll hear from me soon. Raz out.**


	17. Saved by the Pervert

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

...

Naruto paced up and down the corridor, his hands running through his hair as he contemplated the many ways in which Hiashi was going to castrate him. His eyes shot to the problem of all of this in Hanabi, the young girl kneeling on the ground with an oversized dressing gown wrapped around her. On the other side of the room was Tenten, the genin clearly not missing the outcome of this for anything. This also caused another problem in that if Neji were to be sent looking for the missing team member only to find Hanabi with Naruto, the ramen chef was pretty certain the Hyūga prodigy wouldn't rest until vengeance had been taken. Not to mention he'd probably have the entire Hyūga clan backing him which meant that safe havens would be incredibly hard to find with a bunch of people who could see chakra chasing him.

"What happened last night?" asked Hanabi, the first to break the silence as she tugged on the dressing gown. Somewhere along the line she had lost her shirt and was using Naruto's robe to cover herself.

"I have no idea," said Naruto as he resumed his pacing.

"I do," said Tenten cheerfully, raising her hand as if she was in school.

"Tell us," said Naruto praying that there was something in the story which would help save his crotch.

"Na-ah, this is too much fun," said Tenten playfully. Naruto growled slightly and the thought of getting a Yamanaka to probe through the brunette's mind circulated through his thoughts but they were quickly dashed knowing that the more people who knew about this the more danger he would be in.

"I'll not serve you any ramen," threatened Naruto.

"Then I'll just tell Neji what you did to his younger cousin," said Tenten coyly and Naruto knew that at the moment the genin held every card at this stage of the game. Mumbling to himself, Naruto sat down on the bed as he looked at Hanabi, his mind working overtime. He had already sent a bunch of clones to open the shop today, somehow believing that he would not be making it in personally today.

"Alright, let's get the cards on the table here," said Naruto as he took a deep breath to calm himself down. "At the moment, all we know is that the three of us stayed in the same bed. As with past instances, and the fact that most of our clothes were still on, we can assume nothing happened. However, with it just being our words to fall back on, we're going to die."

"Father will definitely want to know where I was last night," said Hanabi.

"If he so much as senses us lying he will have Inoichi look through our minds," said Naruto. "We'd need something huge to take his mind off of things, let alone find some excuse as for why you slept in my bed." Naruto could hear the chuckling of Tenten in the corner but thought nothing of it. He knew that threatening the genin hadn't worked and bribing would likely only bring the same results.

"What if we say we were training?" asked Hanabi. Naruto paused for a moment and pondered on the idea.

"Okay, let's play with this idea then," he said. "I was drunk, you sought retribution, I took it as a training session and accidentally destroyed your shirt and knocked you unconscious. It would look bad for me to take you home in such a condition so I took you back to my place where I placed you in my bed before falling asleep."

"Not sure that would work," mused Tenten as she swung her legs childishly.

"Not helping," said Naruto in a contained rage. "You're right though, Hiashi will want details and if I tell him that I fought you because you were drunk he'd kill me."

"So..." started Hanabi but was unsure what she could say from there before Naruto snapped his fingers.

"Got it," he said cheerily.

"This'll be interesting," said Tenten as she leaned closer.

"Hinata's team is missing a member at the moment and I took it upon myself to try and train you to the point where you could register as a genin and have you go on her team," said Naruto as if he was the smartest person in the world.

"That doesn't really help," said Tenten. "Only the Hokage can promote people like that."

"Also I haven't even started at the academy yet, father has been training me personally," said Hanabi.

"So it'd have to be a field promotion," said Naruto deep in thought before his eyes flashed with an idea running through his mind. Running to the closet, he found the smallest shirt he could and threw it at Hanabi. "Put that on and come with me," he said excitedly.

"Where we going?" asked Hanabi confused.

"Can I come?" asked Tenten.

"Do you want me to tell Gai that your flames of youth are diminishing?" retorted Naruto. That threat hit the mark, potentially the worst thing that Tenten could think of.

"Alright, I'm going to training, I'll see you tonight," said Tenten as she walked out of the door. Naruto sighed as he walked to the other side of the room, happy to find that Hanabi had gotten changed while he had been talking to Tenten.

"So where are we going?" asked Hanabi.

"We are going to go see an old friend of mine who might just be able to save our ass," said Naruto with a smile.

...

With Sakura out of action momentarily, Kakashi had opted to create a shadow clone so that he could work with both Kiba and Sasuke at the same time. It was strange however that instead of wanting to copy a number of his infamous jutsus, Sasuke was more intrigued in working out perpetual motion and angles, something that even Kakashi only knew limited amounts on. When he discovered that this was due to the discovery in cards he was most impressed with his student.

"Was there anything else in those scrolls?" asked Kakashi.

"Do you think it's alright to tell you my clan secrets like this?" asked Sasuke in response.

"Who else are you going to tell them to; I can't help you if I don't know what's capable."

"Touché," said Sasuke. "There were scrolls explaining dice smokebombs that explode when certain numbers land. Two-up coins that contain traces of poison in the centre. That's only the start, there were also things not related to gambling to an extent. Pool cues with hidden senbon inside them is another example."

"I think you and I are going to need to look through these things together if we're going to get a solid understanding of what we can do," explained Kakashi. "Just don't go losing all your money at the dens, remember, the house always wins."

"The house always wins," repeated Sasuke before a little thought crept into his mind.

...

"What are we doing at the bathhouse?" asked Hanabi as she looked at the doorway towards one of the more popular destinations for women in Konoha. She herself had ventured there on more than one occasion, always finding that the water was beautiful to the touch. "I don't see how your plan on making me a genin has to do with going for a relaxing soak."

"That's because we're looking for a very specific someone, a person who never goes through the front door," said Naruto slyly as he began to walk to the side, only to be cut off.

"Hey Naruto," said Sakura and Ino, hand in hand as they exited the bathhouse.

"Hey girls," said Naruto cheerfully.

"Naruto," said Sakura taking a more serious tone. "Would you care to explain why Hanabi is wearing a shirt that her father would never allowed to wear?"

"Keeping up with the trends?" suggested Naruto with a shrug of the shoulders. "Free bowl of ramen if you forget everything you saw here."

"Make it two each," said Ino holding up her fingers to exaggerate the point.

"Fine," said Naruto in defeat as he conjured a pen and paper from supposedly nowhere and wrote down a voucher. "Give this to my clones so they'll know what to do."

"Thank you," said Ino taking the slip of paper, pulling her shirt open the slightest of margins before placing the note safely in between her breasts.

"See you later," said Sakura with a smile as she and Ino made their way down the street, their fingers interlaced.

"Did I miss something?" asked Hanabi trying to figure out what just happened.

"Next time you come to my shop, ask a woman called Anko what her relationship status is like and you'll get your answer," said Naruto as he restarted his walk around the side, Hanabi quickly following. It wasn't long until they came to the back of the bathhouse and Hanabi looked around expectantly.

"Where is this person you wanted me to meet?" she asked.

"Trust me, this person is the last person you'd ever want to meet but due to the circumstances we have little to no choice at the moment," said Naruto. "If he's in town, he'll come here soon but in the meantime, so that we have a little bargaining power, let's see what we can do to advance your training."

"Weren't we just doing this as an alibi?" asked Hanabi.

"To an extent, yes," answered Naruto. "However, then there is the problem that if Hiashi follows on with this ploy that you may be put onto Team 8 and if you don't have the necessary experience...well you know what can happen."

"I see," said Hanabi as she prepared herself for a light training session. Little did she know that she had just walked into one of the most ferocious experiences she would ever face.

...

Ino waited outside the change room as Sakura got into an outfit that the blonde kunoichi had chosen for her; however there were troubling thoughts on her mind that included one of the few other blondes that she knew. The way Sakura had smiled when they had bumped into Naruto when coming out of the bathhouse was unique and warmed Ino's heart. The fact that it hadn't been aimed at her however almost tore her in two.

Her thoughts travelled back to the night when the Genjutsu had been put on her and how she had assaulted Sakura. Tenten had explained to her later that night that the Genjutsu forced the victim to imagine themselves making out with the person who they had a romantic interest for or had a strong connection.

Sudden realisation hit Ino as she thought of the possibility that she had not been in love with Sakura after all but just due to their rivalry she had the strongest connection. She had been thinking about the situation nearly every minute that Sakura had been on her mission and she couldn't help but wonder if she had purposefully forgotten that single piece of information, or if her subconscious had just not wanted her to remember. With a sigh, she ran her hand through her hair, wondering what she should do now.

"What do you think?" asked Sakura as she stepped out of the change room, doing a small twirl as if she was a little girl, something which made Ino giggle. With content, she opted to simply see how this went for now and see whether or not her feelings for Sakura were true or if she really had thought about the situation too much and it was all just a misunderstanding.

...

"There he is," said Naruto as he walked out of the woods surrounding the bathhouse. "Are you coming or not?" In an undignified manner, Hanabi crawled across the ground behind Naruto, never having felt so beaten up in her life despite not having taken a single hit.

"That was torture," she complained as she manoeuvred the semi destroyed shirt that covered her torso.

"That was only the beginning, after we talk to this guy the real training begins," said Naruto gripping Hanabi by the back of the shirt and pulling her onto her feet in a single motion.

"So who's that and what's he doing?" asked Hanabi finally spotting the white haired hermit.

"One of the most powerful people in the village and research," answered Naruto as the two of them crossed the bridge over the hot water to where the man was sitting. As if second instinct, the man's head turned around with a stern look across his face before his features burst into a smile.

"I thought I'd been caught by somebody important but thankfully it was only you," he joked.

"Hardy-ha-ha," replied Naruto. "Just wondering Jiraiya, with your position as Sannin, are you permitted to give field promotions?"

"This man's a Sannin!" exclaimed Hanabi, having only heard stories about the legendary ninjas.

"So what's with the squirt, with all the business you do you'd be raking in the older women," said Jiraiya in a serious tone yet the slight dribble of blood from his nose told Naruto everything he needed to know.

"Damn it, first off Kakashi tries to use me for 'Research' and now you want to as well," said Naruto with a groan.

"Kakashi hmm, the pervertness is strong with this one," said Jiraiya in a husky voice.

"Back on topic, can you give field promotions?" asked Naruto.

"I can, it's one of the few privileges I have," said Jiraiya. "Although I usually have to have prior authentication from the Hokage beforehand."

"However, you can do it without notification?"

"I can, why are you looking to finally rejoin the ranks of shinobi and become a Jōnin?" asked the Sannin.

"Not likely," said Naruto. "I need this little firecracker to become a genin."

"Don't call me a firecracker," snapped Hanabi hating it when people played with her name to such an extent.

"Why would you want her to be a genin?" asked Jiraiya getting to his feet.

"So that Hiashi doesn't castrate me," explained Naruto.

"Hiashi...as in the head of the Hyūga clan?" asked Jiraiya looking from Hanabi to Naruto to get a nod of approval from the blonde. In a swift motion, Jiraiya did a three hundred and sixty degree turn, somehow in his motion had summoned a cloak and staff from nowhere which he now held high in the air, the cloak swaying across his back with the breeze. "By the powers invested in me, I proclaim...what was your name sorry?"

"Hanabi Hyūga."

"I proclaim that Hanabi Hyūga, from this day forth shall be known throughout the streets as a genin of Konoha!" stated Jiraiya as lighting cracked in the background despite there being no clouds in the sky.

"So I'm a genin now?" asked Hanabi.

"I'll just have to fill out a couple of forms and you'll be a certified member of the Konoha forces in no time," said Jiraiya.

"Alright, now that that's done, let's get back to training," said Naruto. Creating a Shadow Clone, he instructed Hanabi to follow it towards the next exercise. "Cheers for that."

"I know too well the threat of castration and what one must do to avoid it at all costs," said Jiraiya. Checking to make sure the coast was clear, he knelt down beside the boy. "So if Kakashi's trying to write your exploits, clearly you've got some juicy information to tell this sage."

"Not going to happen," said Naruto walking off. "Just be happy that I don't alert the girls of your presence."

"Soon, the pervertness will claim you young chef, just like it claims the best of us," muttered Jiraiya under his breath before turning around to continue his prior activity. It was only a minute later when Naruto caught up to his clone and Hanabi, finding the young girl in a series of push-ups. With a nod of approval, the shadow clone burst from existence as Hanabi looked up at the original Naruto.

"What did you want to talk to him about?" asked Hanabi as she held herself in position.

"Nothing important," replied Naruto with a shrug of the shoulders.

"I was wondering, what did you mean by he was doing 'research?'" asked Hanabi.

"Nothing you need to worry about," stated Naruto not wanting to corrupt the young girl further. "Come on, let's see how many you can do before we move onto pull-ups, followed by sit-ups then weighted squats, medicine ball..."

"Is this a legit training schedule or are you making it up as you go?" asked Hanabi.

"It's legit; you could say that this type of training is quite...'youthful.'"

...

**Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are much appreciated.**

**Ravenwingcorps: At the moment, even I don't know the way the pairings are going to go.**

**Doooooom lord of waffles: Well there has to be at least some realism in a story otherwise I'm going to lose readers.**

**LSM: At the time, it had been Naru/Hina, however when the latest chapter came out, the pairing changed and I forgot to remove the Hinata tag.**

**Elite Ninja Bookworm: I never take the obvious route, I'm a country boy, I make my own routes.**

**Santmaster: I won't say that it is a potential Harem, I rather see it as rather a revolving number of relationships that co-exist with one another.**

**Daniel 29: Gambit...hmm...I believe some research needs to be done.**

**Reader2001: I'm trying to keep up with the relationship changes as well.**

**Brian Stetzel: Long time no see. Glad you approve of my Hanabi approach and I'm sorry if I insulted you with the accidental mistake in hair colour.**


	18. Problems of Clubbing

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

When Hiashi saw his daughter for the first time in nearly twenty four hours, she was barely recognisable. Her features were covered in dirt to the point where it looked like her clothes would be stained to eternity. Yet behind the grime Hiashi could see that there was something more. Despite the fact she saw shaking as if she was using the last of her energy to stand, Hanabi radiated an aura of confidence about her, as if she had accomplished something worthwhile in the day. "I'm home father," she said weakly before the last of her strength faded and she collapsed into the arms of her personal trainer behind her.

"Rest now Hanabi," said Naruto in a comforting voice as he cradled the young girl in his arms, Hanabi seeming to grip his shirt as she began to sleep soundlessly. Hiashi couldn't help but sneak a small smile across his face at the sight of her daughter so peacefully resting in Naruto's arms. His eyes sharpened however as his gaze razed slightly to look Naruto in the eyes.

"Mind explaining to me why my youngest daughter is unconscious in your arms," he stated with a harsh tone. Balancing Hanabi expertly in a single arm, Naruto used his spare hand to dig through his pocket before pulling out several papers, Hiashi's eyes peaked slightly at the sight of him and a sense of curiosity washed over him.

"Let me just take Hanabi to her room, and then we can talk," he said casually in response, Hiashi nodding in understanding before he began leading Naruto towards his household. With their back to the entrance however, they were unable to see Hinata returning from her morning training with a inquisitive look crossing over her face.

Hiashi opened the door for Naruto to enter, the blonde silently thanking the clan head as he entered Hanabi's room and was surprised with what he found. From the rather traditional household, Hanabi's room seemed that little more head focused in a single direction. Pressed flowers adorned the shelves, the moisture all but stripped from their petals. Shades of colours from all manners of the spectrum, many of which Naruto hadn't even known exist which made the chef quite impressed. On the desk stood a bonsai tree, perfectly positioned so that the midday light shone directly on it through the window. Focusing, Naruto placed Hanabi on the bed, yet the petite girl seemed to moan lightly in her sleep now that physical contact had been broken.

Smiling, Naruto used his forefinger to brush a loose strand of hair behind Hanabi's ear, somewhat calming the girl to a degree as he turned towards where Hiashi stood waiting for him. Silently, he closed the door behind him before he and the clan head continued towards Hiashi's office. From around the corner, Hinata watched on with fascination as to why the ramen chef had been carrying her younger sister in the first place.

Hiashi sat behind his desk, the blonde ramen chef in front of him as two cups of green tea were laid out for them by a member of the branch family. "Thank you," said Naruto as he took a sip, the family member bowing before exiting the room.

"So, care to explain to me why my daughter ended up in your arms driven to the point of exhaustion and dirtier than mud itself," asked Hiashi, his voice growling with tamed anger. Naruto's face remained calm on the surface but internally he knew that a single slip up would deliver a fate worse than death to fall upon him.

"We've been training," said Naruto bluntly as he placed the tea back on the desk. Hiashi's eyebrow raised curiously, the only indication for Naruto to continue. "I am sure you already know of the dilemma that has befallen your eldest's team as of late."

"If you are referring to the fact that they are now down to only two genin, I am aware," said Hiashi.

"I also take it you are aware of the confidence problems that befall upon your daughter," said Naruto.

"I'm actually more interested into how you know that fact," said Hiashi trying to change the nature of the conversation into one which was more favourable to him.

"I did my research," said Naruto brushing it off, having spent so long as a chef for the ninjas allowed him to pick up a number of details from talkative customers. "Anyway, when I learnt that Hinata's team had lost a member, I immediately began thinking about her confidence issues. Knowing Kakashi and Asuma, they will likely enter their teams into the Chūnin exams. If by some chance their students get through and a number of them become Chūnin, think of how Hinata would feel about being left behind."

Naruto paused momentarily watching as Hiashi took in the information before continuing. "As such, I went about trying to find a way to help them get into the Chūnin exams, whether or not they get promoted or not was not of my concern but the fact that they competed would help Hinata's confidence issues."

"And this resolves around my youngest daughter how?" asked Hiashi.

Naruto smirked as he revealed the documents he had been given earlier that day. "Seeing potential in Hanabi, I pulled a number of strings and was able to get her a field promotion," said Naruto with a smirk, enjoying the look of shock that had overcome Hiashi as he took the files. "Hanabi is now classified as a genin of Konoha."

Had the documents not been in front of him, Hiashi would not have believed what he was hearing. When he saw the name and the signature at the bottom however, his fist scrunched up to a point where it nearly tore the paper in two. "That pervert," he grumbled threateningly.

"Yet, despite that I don't believe Hanabi will be ready in time, considering she will have to have taken a number of missions by the time the exams come around in a little over a month," admitted Naruto with a shrug of the shoulders. "Maybe it was just a foolish idea of mine after all."

"Be that as it may, we would be foolish to believe that we should simply get away with giving up," said Hiashi, a menacing grin crossing his face which scared Naruto to a great extent.

"W-what?"

"I will talk with Hinata and now Hanabi's sensei on the matter," said Hiashi, the smirk still spread across his face. "If Kurenai sees it for the best than I will need your assistance to make sure not just Hanabi is ready for the Chūnin exams if they get accepted but Hinata as well. If their sensei agrees to this elaborate plan you will be training them every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday until the time of the exams, if they do not get accepted then there is enough time for them to grow stronger without your assistance by the time the next lot of exams come through."

Naruto just sat there doing his best not to bury his head in his hands. This was not how he imagined things would go and he could tell from the smirk on Hiashi's face that he had been outplayed. This was revenge for making his daughter a genin without any prior knowledge being given to him, and Hiashi was going to make Naruto (and most likely Jiraiya) suffer for it. "I understand," said Naruto trying not to let his voice show any emotion.

"Very well, I shall be off to inform Kurenai of this immediately," said Hiashi as he stood, Naruto doing likewise. "If everything goes as we have planned then you will see my daughters after they have finished their mission for the day and you will train them in whatever way you believe will benefit them the most."

"Y-Yes sir," said Naruto as he bowed to Hiashi as the clan head excused himself and if Naruto could have seen deep into Hiashi's thoughts he would have discovered the Hyūga was internally laughing his head off. He took a couple of extra moments after Hiashi had left before walking out of the door only to find Hinata standing on the other side.

"Y-You went through all that trouble just for me," she said having eavesdropped on the entire conversation. Once again Naruto found himself struggling not only to keep himself from blabbing something that would ruin the entire ploy but also to prevent his jaw drop dropping. A few awkward moments passed before his head bobbed up and down slowly before Hinata leapt at him, draping her arms over his shoulders in a hug. "Thank you," she said trying to fight back the tears before she realised the close proximity she found herself in with her crush, her face instantly reddening as she released her hold and backed away several feet, nervously tapping her fingers together. Lifting up his hand, Naruto rubbed his eyes with his forefinger and thumb and prayed that he hadn't made a rash decision.

...

Akamaru's barks seemed less and less faint with every step that Kiba took, his mind solely focusing on what was going to be his light at the end of the tunnel. His hand crept up to his shoulder where he began to scratch at an itch that didn't exist. His eyes shifted as he past a group of people in the alleyway, his eyes never staying on the same face for less than a second before his focus shifted once again.

His eyes did remain on one person however as he entered the fabled zone, his black haired teammate was talking with a number of people, a suitcase in his hand. The thought of going over to see what Sasuke was doing briefly crossed his mind but it was quickly drowned out by the thoughts of what lay ahead and Kiba found his feet heading over towards the nearby alleyway, Akamaru begrudgingly following behind.

...

Naruto slumped into work, his clones already hard at it. Their eyes shifted slightly when they saw their creator walk in but they could tell by the look on his face that something hadn't gone quite right with communications.

"Yosh young chef-kun, is something troubling your flames of youth?" asked Gai whom had seen the look upon Naruto's face.

"It's fine," said Naruto brushing it off as he got straight back into his work routine. He wasn't surprised to see a number of people surrounding the infamous Sannin who had come in for a bite to eat. Naruto wasn't surprised to see that Kakashi was by the white haired man's side, the two of them laughing boisterously with a couple of cups of Sake in front of them. Naruto could only imagine what it was that they were talking about but paid it no detail as he began serving ramen. It would only be when Kurenai came storming in that he knew things were going to go off the rails very quickly.

However, her fury surprisingly wasn't focused at the blonde chef, but rather the white haired man who looked on in confusion as Kurenai began ranting about how he could promote Hanabi to a genin without prior concession. Jiraiya did his best to get a word in but was quickly silenced as Kurenai stamped her authority over the Sannin. Naruto could only assume that Kurenai had accepted Hanabi on to her team and while she wasn't willing to voice her anger at Hiashi himself, she had opted for the much easier target.

Kurenai stepped away, taking a moment to have a breather as her eyes fell on her fellow sensei in Gai, her eyes swapping between the spandex clad Jōnin and Jiraiya a number of times before plotting something sinister. Unfortunately for her, Jiraiya had already sensed the danger he was in and had already used a substitution to get out of there as quickly as possible. "Come back here!" shouted Kurenai, turning to give chase but paused momentarily to glare daggers at Naruto. "Don't think you're getting off this easy either."

Naruto swallowed nervously before Kurenai vanished from sight, suddenly feeling very scared for his sanity as he prayed the Genjutsu mistress would vent her anger out on the sage rather than him. Grabbing a nearby sake bottle, Naruto took a swig before he focused on the oncoming form of Tenten, holding his hand out for his clone to hand him a bowl of ramen.

"I don't know how your clones always know that I'm coming," she said in disbelief as she took a vacant seat at the front of the bar. Naruto merely shrugged in response, in honesty he didn't know how he and his clones knew when Tenten was coming, it was a second nature now and nothing less. It may have been after the first time Tenten stayed in his bed, he could no longer remember. "So how did your plan go?"

"It worked," admitted Naruto, afraid to go into even more information. He could tell by the way that Tenten was looking at him that she wanted details although Naruto turned away from the topic, opting to converse with other patrons. This however prevented him from seeing the coy smile that spread across Tenten's face as she began to dig into her food.

...

Naruto sighed as he ordered two clones to stand guard for the night as he ran a hand through his hair, knowing that he would be expecting Hinata and Hanabi to rock up tomorrow after their first team mission together. He knew that would be an interesting conversation in itself, to see how the younger sister got along with Hinata. He put that to the back of his mind though as his eyes fell upon the single individual who had stayed until the end of the day.

"So it's just the two of us tonight is it?" asked Tenten, already knowing the answer.

"Seems that way," said Naruto as he walked up to where the young kunoichi was waiting for him.

"Since it's just us you want to do something special?" she asked, trying to sound as seductive as possible.

"Hopefully nothing we'll regret," muttered Naruto in a voice that thankfully Tenten hadn't heard. Taking the initiative, the brunette grabbed Naruto by the hand. "What's going on?"

"C'mon, we're going clubbing," she said in a pushing tone. Naruto didn't even realise half the time what was happening as he was dragged through a number of alleyways before he came to a shinobi only nightclub, the only one in Konoha. Most of the night life scenes in the village allowed ninjas to be present but at the same time didn't particularly appreciate them being there as they tended to scare away a number of customers.

It didn't take long for Naruto and Tenten to get inside, the brunette instantly purchasing a number of shots. "How many did you just order?" asked Naruto having a hard time listening over the sound of the music as a number of small glasses were placed in front of him, a wide range of colours inside each one.

"Shut up and drink," said Tenten as she handed over the necessary money before grabbing the first shot and slamming the alcohol down her throat. Naruto had never really been one for different drinks outside of sake but he found the liqueurs he was tasting weren't as bad as he first thought, although it was safe to say they were nothing like sake. Once again he found his wrist being grabbed by Tenten who was being surprisingly pushy tonight and found himself on the dance floor. Having never truly experienced one of these sort of situations before, at least not as sober as he was. Naruto simply froze, unsure of what he was meant to be doing.

"Dance!" commanded Tenten as she began to sway her hips, having to yell in order to get her voice to travel over the sound of the music. Naruto simply copied Tenten's movements until the girl turned away from him momentarily, the blonde quickly finding refuge on a nearby couch.

"Takes a while to get used to doesn't it," said Jiraiya, the white haired Sannin occupying the other half of the couch.

"When the hell did you get here?" asked Naruto haven't even realised that the white haired shinobi had even been there in the first place. The look Jiraiya gave him told Naruto that it was a silly question to have asked and simply turned to face the crowd, hoping that Tenten would soon have forgotten ever having brought him here. His plan was simple, wait it out until the crowds started to die and then take Tenten back to his place so she could get some sleep.

It would not be his lucky night however, as a young kunoichi made her way through the crowd, having spotted Naruto through her drunken form. Naruto looked up at her but before she could say a word, the kunoichi leapt at him, quickly engulfing his mouth in a kiss which Jiraiya was already writing detailed notes about. Naruto could do nothing as he felt a tongue drive into his mouth, dancing with his own slippery limb. It would be a while later when the girl broke the kiss, smiling seductively at the blonde, brushing pink strands of hair out of her face.

"Sakura?" said Naruto in disbelief, the girl in front of him giggling slightly at the antic. It was then that he noticed one other female in the nearby vicinity, her hair almost as blonde as his own. "Oh shit," said Naruto as he saw Ino lift her fingers in her families patented seal before his mind was forcefully shut down.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**I'm Solo: I guess it is a bit of a harem, but not to the extent where a number of women randomly seek out Naruto. I guess I'm just trying to give each of the characters who is chasing Naruto their own motivations and wants rather than simply wanting him because others do.**

**Gravity the Wizard: Trust me, Hinata will still be a big part of Naruto's life.**

**Brian Stentzel: I hope you got your fix of Hanabi in this chapter.**

**Master of cheese graters: There is a point to Kiba's doping habits, what that point is however I'm yet to find.**

**: Yes the pervertedness, got a problem with that?**

**Now comes the bad part, effective immediately I am going on hiatus indefinitely so that I can focus on my final year of studies. Let's be clear, this story itself isn't going on hiatus, I, as a writer, am going on hiatus. I am sorry if this is an inconvenience in any way shape or form.**


	19. A Grudge Resolved

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Naruto's eyes slowly flickered open, his head spinning slowly as the room around him came into focus. His right hand lifted up from underneath the sheets and he rubbed his forehead for a good ten seconds as his mind began to clear up. Focusing his eyes on the ceiling, he was glad to see that it was the roof that he usually woke up under, meaning he had gotten home the night before. Next check, lifting up the sheets he breathed a sigh of relief to see that his pants were still on, meaning he hadn't ended up doing anything inappropriate. Turning his head to the side, he was grateful that the first girl he laid eyes on was Tenten, the brown haired brunette becoming a regular to the confines of his bed. Twisting his head to the other side, he was surprised to see a mop of pink hair grace his view. "Sakura?" he said in confusion, having been pretty certain that the kunoichi had been out with Ino the prior night. As if to answer his temporary stupor, on the other side of where Sakura slept was the Yamanaka heiress herself.

"How the hell did this happen?" asked Naruto trying to put pieces together but no matter how much he tried it was as if a large chunk of his memory had merely been wiped out. He got no time to dawdle on the topic however as his door slammed open, causing him to sit upright in an instant, grabbing a kunai that he kept under his pillow at all times.

Within the door frame stood a fuming Kurenai, a picture of malice with an empty sake bottle in her hand as she glared at Naruto with rage filled eyes. "I told you that you wouldn't get off this easy Na-ru...to?" The last part of her statement came to a standstill as Kurenai suddenly noticed the presence of extra bodies starting to stir within the confines of Naruto's bed. Minutes passed as the restless bodies returned to their slumbering state and Kurenai breathed a sigh of relief before signalling Naruto to stand in front of her in an instant, not a sound being made as the sheets silently crashed to the bed.

"Do whatever you want with me, just don't disturb the girls," said Naruto in a hushed voice. A small smile graced Kurenai's lips as she smiled at the maturity the boy had in such a situation but a quick shake of the head reminded her why she had come here in the first place.

"Listen gaki, you've put me in a lot of trouble these past few days and I don't like it," said Kurenai trying not to slur her words into one another. Naruto could tell from the smell on her clothes and the bags under her eyes that the Jonin had likely not gotten any sleep the prior night.

"Hey Kurenai, turn around for a sec, you've got something in your hair," said Naruto pointing towards the top of the Jonin's head.

"I do?" questioned Kurenai as she twisted around, as if trying to look at the back of her head without the use of a mirror. Thankfully though this put her in a position for Naruto to knock her out with a single blow.

"This should create some controversy," said Naruto as he placed Kurenai's body on top of the bed where he had been sleeping. Hopefully by the time that she woke up some of the effects of the alcohol would have seeped away. Lifting his arms into the air, stretching the muscles of his back, Naruto turned his attention to the wardrobe standing nearby and got himself a clean set of clothes. Once he had changed, he stepped out of the room, closing the door slowly as to not disturb his guests before heading off to do his chores of the day, one which including the teaching of the two Hyuga daughters. Now that their sensei had become unable to function properly, he assumed that it also became his responsibility to lead them on their first mission as a team together.

Once he had stepped outside of his house, his eyes shifted upwards momentarily at his bedroom window, as if something out of the ordinary had taken place before he shrugged his shoulders, slowly walking towards the Hokage tower towards his temporary team. From the window, Ino watched Naruto walk away, her mind still reeling from the prior nights effects but still clear enough to know that she owed the Ramen stand owner an explanation at the end of the day.

...

"I wonder where Kurenai sensei is?" questioned Hinata as she stood in front of the Hokage tower with her team. The ever stoic Shino said nothing, rather he stared out into the distance with unseen eyes while the latest addition to the team didn't like the idea of waiting and was beginning to get frustrated.

"Shouldn't she be here by now," said Hanabi wondering if there was a reason she had gotten out of bed so early.

"If you're frustrated now, then you'd have hated to have Kakashi as a teacher," said Naruto as he walked out from the doors of the Hokage tower, a small scroll held tightly within his hand.

"Naruto-kun," said Hinata in shock at the presence of the boy, desperately trying not to let her cheeks flush red.

"Naruto sensei today," said Naruto as he flashed them the scroll in his hands. "Your current teacher is unable to be with you today due to unforeseen circumstances but I'm filling in the role for her before we begin training."

"So what mission are we doing sensei?" asked Hanabi excited about her first mission. "Are we going to rid a town of bandits, cleanse the evil from the land?"

"Prepare to have all your hopes and dreams crushed in an instant," said Naruto as he opened the scroll, showing two words in total. Catch Tora.

...

"This is not a mission," screamed Hanabi as she held the target out of face scratching distance as they walked towards the Hokage tower.

"Welcome to the world of shinobi," said Naruto resting his hands on the back of his head. "D-rank missions like this are common for Genin teams and only when you have proved yourself to your sensei are you permitted to go on harder missions. Since this was only our first mission together, I doubt that you could convince me otherwise. Let's just hand in the cat and then I can start training you guys since your father forced that responsibility on me."

"Let's go Hanabi," said Hinata as she opened the door for her sister.

"We'll wait for you out here," said Naruto as he gripped Shino's shoulder, holding him in place.

"Alright then," said Hanabi as Hinata closed the door, leaving Shino and Naruto standing in the middle of the road.

"Is there a reason we have stopped sensei?" asked Shino.

"Stop it with the sensei crap," said Naruto waving his hand back and forth. "I'm the same age as you guys and it's only a temporary thing. Anyways, I need to know what kind of test Kurenai put you and your team through in order to show that you were qualified to be a team."

"We took part in a scavenger hunt she had prepared filled with traps and the like which would force us to work as a team or falter individually," explained Shino.

"Trust Kurenai to go the extra mile," said Naruto before he created a Shadow Clone. "This guy's going to help you get a bit of extra training done while I work out just what kind of situation I'm going to be dealing with in regards to Hinata and Hanabi."

"Very well," said Shino as he and the clone leapt off into the distance. When they were out of eyesight, Naruto turned his attention towards the top floor of the tower as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a single bell which chimed softly.

...

"You're going to have to do better than that," said Naruto as he dodged Hanabi's strike, leaping over her attack and twisting midair, forcing her to duck underneath his heel as it careened overhead. Hanabi growled menacingly as she pushed herself onwards, constantly becoming frustrated that she was unable to land a solid strike.

"Stay still damn it," said Hanabi as she gave chase to the elusive chef who treated the entire thing as if it was a game, the bell tied to his waist constantly out of reach.

"You expect an enemy to stay still?" asked Naruto as he brushed the jab past his ear, closing the distance before he lifted his knee into Hanabi's stomach, causing blood and spit to escape the young girl's lips. "Nor will an enemy go easy on an opponent." Putting an exclamation on his point, Naruto gripped the extended arm with both hands and twisting his body, tossed Hanabi over his shoulder, the young Hyuga flying several feet before she skidded across the ground painfully.

Hinata, who was standing nearby was both frightened and intimidated by the scene in front of her as Naruto easily manhandled her sister who was only just getting back to her feet. The situation they were in was a dire one if any and she knew that if she wanted to get the chance to train individually with Naruto she would have to claim the bell hanging from his waist. For the Hyuga that didn't get the bell, then they would forfeit their chance of training with the Uzumaki. "That was a perfect chance to attack me from behind Hinata," said Naruto calmly as he turned his attention to the older Hyuga causing the lavender haired girl to 'eep' slightly.

"But," said the Hyuga averting her eyes to the side. "A-Attacking Naruto-kun..."

She didn't get to finish her statement as she quickly found herself having to dodge and weave a number of attacks which flowed at her at a rapid pace. "Getting this bell is your mission, every mission needs to be taken under the best of your ability," said Naruto as he landed a kick just underneath Hinata's ribs. Hinata coughed in pain as she collapsed to her knees, clutching at her stomach. "Despite that, the one thing which always comes before the mission is the safety and wellbeing of your teammates, whether it be your genin squad or a Jonin with ten times your experience. My sensei told me that those who fail the mission are scum, those who leave their friends are worse than scum."

As Hinata looked up at Naruto in a sense of awe, he twisted sharply, avoiding Hanabi's strike by no more than an inch as the young girl bounced slightly as she tried to maintain her balance. "How did you know I was coming when I was attacking your blind spot without the Byakugan?" asked Hanabi confused as to how Naruto had evaded her attack.

"When you expect an attack to come at your weak spot, then it never truly is your weak spot," said Naruto as Hinata got to her feet by her sister's side. "If you can't defeat me alone, what must you do?"

"I can defeat you alone," shouted Hanabi aggressively, Hinata unable to stop her sister as the young Hyuga attacked Naruto, only to be lightly flicked in the forehead which sent her back a couple of steps.

"Wrong answer," said Naruto casually. "Get this next one right unless you want more youthful training."

Hinata was unsure why her sister visibly cringed at such a thought but focused on Naruto as she decided to answer the question based on the information she had just been given. "You have to work as a team," she stated boldly.

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner," said Naruto with a smile across his face. "From now on you two are going to be on the same team, that means you have to act like teammates, work like teammates and fight together like teammates. Even some of the best fighting combinations come from those who don't so much like each other but rather respect one another. You have to know each other's strengths and weaknesses and what you can do to help counter such things."

"I understand Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she looked at Hanabi who seemed to have come to the same realisation that she wouldn't be able to get anywhere near the bell if she continued to work as a one unit team.

"Let's do this nee-san," boldly declared Hanabi as both of them got into their stance.

"This'll be fun," stated Naruto as both Hinata and Hanabi charged at Naruto who now knew that it didn't matter who got the bell, he was going to be training both of them.

...

"I can't believe you managed to beat both of us," said Hanabi as she took a seat at the ramen stand, Hinata and Naruto sitting beside her with the blonde chef in the middle.

"I had to knock you off your high horse," said Naruto as one of his clones gave him a glass of water, knowing full well that it was too early in the day for the boss to be drinking Sake, especially after the previous night.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Hanabi getting a bit frustrated with all of the random sayings Naruto seemed to pull out of nowhere.

"You've got some egotistical issues which probably would have only escalated if you had gone to the academy," said Naruto as drinks were placed in front of his two students. "Last year the child prodigy was Neji and he thought of himself superior to everybody else. Likewise with Sasuke, the top of the class of the most recent lot of genin. Despite that they've both slowly come crashing down to earth with the realisation that there are those around them who are better. Sasuke first got the message a couple weeks ago when I killed that council member without a second thought. As for Neji...well I got to him in a lot more of a personal way."

...

"_You mean to tell me sensei that there is a man on your eternal rival's team whose flames of youth burn brighter than our own?" asked Lee after having graduated two months earlier._

"_Not quite young Lee," said Gai as he turned to the side. "Former student who is a year younger than the lot of you and as you are now, not one of you would be able to defeat him."_

"_Be that as it may," said Neji coldly, "If we were to encounter, fate would undoubtedly be in my favour."_

"_Is that so?" said Kakashi who was crouching on the top of a nearby building having listened in to the conversation._

"_That's sensei's eternal rival?" questioned Lee looking at the man with only one eye showing._

"_That's Kakashi," said Tenten instantly recognising the imposing figure of the Jonin._

"_Kakashi, what brings you here my eternal rival?" asked Gai as Kakashi leapt down to where the team was standing._

"_Not much, but having heard of your students bold declaration it would seem only fit that we have ourselves a bit of a challenge with the losing sensei having to wear a different outfit to the one they have on currently. In other words, you'd get to see me without my mask while you'd go about it something other than your current attire, what do you say?" asked Kakashi making the bargain._

"_Let us fight for you sensei, our flames will forever burn brightly if it is a fight for you," shouted Lee getting pumped at the idea of fighting somebody of that calibre._

"_Your words have moved my heart Lee-kun!" shouted Gai as tears streamed from his eyes before he pointed at Kakashi. "Challenge accepted!"_

_..._

"That was a fun day, not only did I get to beat the stuffing out of Neji but it was the first time I met Tenten who became a lifelong friend after that," concluded Naruto.

"Why didn't Neji tell us about his loss?" asked Hanabi.

"One is usually humble about the victories they have achieved, but they rarely boast the fact that they came away from a battle without landing a single blow," said Naruto.

"You're so cool Naruto-kun," said Hinata as a bowl of ramen was placed in front of all three.

"Comes with being awesome," said Naruto in a joking manner.

"What was that you were just saying about being humble and the like?" asked Hanabi as she waited for her ramen to cool slightly.

"When you're sitting in the Jonin lounge when you're older, pretty much all you do is sit around and tell stories," explained Naruto. "But a story isn't a story unless you put emphasis and feel behind passionate words, otherwise it just becomes a boring monologue."

"How do you know what they do in the Jonin lounge?" asked Hanabi.

"I disguised myself as my sensei once and went there as a prank," said Naruto. "I told all of the other ninja about how I, as Kakashi, had accidentally set fire to my client's house while believing it was under attack when it had only been a false alarm. He didn't have enough money to give them in order to pay them back for the damages caused so he had to sell all of his equipment and even the clothes off his back before walking back to Konoha in nothing but his underwear. It never happened but nearly every Jonin believes that it did."

"So," said the usually calm voice of Kakashi who was standing behind Naruto. Very slowly, Naruto turned around, sweat dripping from his forehead at a remarkable pace as his former sensei glared at him with a burning intensity. "You were the one who created that story."

"Ah...Kakashi...I can explain," said Naruto nervously. Kakashi cracked his knuckles in an intimidating fashion before Naruto burst in a puff of smoke, revealing that it was nothing more than a Kage Bunshin.

"Where is he?" asked Kakashi directing his attention to the closest clone.

"Probably where he always is this time of day," said the clone nervously. Kakashi took this as his answer and vanished from sight as Hanabi and Hinata shared a look with one another.

"Does that mean that the entire day we were fighting a clone?" asked Hanabi to which Hinata slowly nodded, unable to come up with a different theory. "So where is the real Naruto?"

"I can answer that," said the clone. "Boss was in the kitchen when the clone vanished but now that he knows that Kakashi sensei is after him he's wondering if he can vanish for a long time to come."

"So he's actually here," said Kakashi as he tilted his head over the balcony, never having trusted the word of the clone and having opted to sit on the roof and wait to see whether or not he would get anymore information.

"Tell Naruto we're sorry," said Hinata as Kakashi paced his way into the back of the stand, murderous intent basically radiating off of his body.

"I'm sure all will be forgiven," said the clone as the scream of the original radiated through the entire store.

...

"How goes your report?" asked the Sandaime as their loyal ninja knelt in front of him.

"Well," replied the ninja. "Naruto is growing more and more accustomed to the people around him day by day, especially since having met those of his age group. For a while it looked like he would go into social isolation considering there was nobody he could really have a conversation to that lasted longer than what they ordered. Had that occurred there was a possibility of mental trauma which could have had devastating effects."

"And you are certain that you aren't being tracked," said the Sandaime as he laced his fingers together and placed them on his chin. He received a nod to which he gave a soft sigh. "Thank you for your information, I look forward to your next report this time next week."

"Thank you Hokage," said the ninja before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Naruto," said the Sandaime to himself as he looked out the window. "I pray that if you ever find out about the mission the elders set up three years ago you'll forgive me for having not stopped them when I could have. I also pray that day never comes."

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Brian Stentzel: Your 2c is always appreciated.**

**Meck Viking: The pairings continuously change with ever chapter as each girl gets closer or further away from their goal.**

**Please review and peace out.**


	20. Kicking the Habit

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

"You're training is much tougher than I could have imagined," said Shino, despite being through such an intense workout he still showed no signs of emotion. Naruto's clone had focused on one of the Aburume's main weaknesses in that he forced Shino to survive a trap ridden course without the use of his insects. When Shino had asked why they were doing such a task, the clone had explained that there would come a time where Shino would have to protect his colony inside his body for later use.

"Is that a complaint I hear?" asked the clone as he walked alongside the Aburame on their way towards the lawless zone.

"No sensei," said Shino. "It was more unexpected than anything else."

"I thought I told you to quit it with the sensei thing, it was alright during the mission but afterwards it got more annoying than anything else," said the clone brushing off the title.

"What if I were to call you Shihan, would that be more suitable?" asked Shino as the two walked through the alleyway which connected the lawless zone to the rest of Konoha.

"Shihan Naruto," said the clone musing over the title. "It's got a nice ring to it; I reckon boss would like it." The two continued to walk in silence for a bit longer as they stepped out of the small alleyway into the more dangerous area of town where the clone was immediately gripped by the collar by Kiba, the Inuzuka had red lines twisting towards his eyes.

"Please help me," he begged, tears forming in his eyes.

"Whoa whoa what happened?" asked the clone trying to get Kiba to calm down.

"It seems he is distraught," analysed Shino.

"My mother and sister won't look at me the same, my family has ostracized me and even Akamaru doesn't respect me anymore," said Kiba as he crashed to his knees, his legs barely having the strength to hold him.

"Great, he's gone into withdrawal," said the clone as he picked Kiba up and draped a shoulder across his neck. "I should never have mentioned what drugs were to him."

"I would prefer it if you allowed him to continue purchasing marijuana," said Shino in a stoic voice which caused the clone to look at him aggressively. "I only say this for if Kiba breaks his habit I will lose a lot of my profit intake."

"What's more important Shino, the life of your teammate or making a few measly bucks," said the Naruto clone in an intimidating tone, his eyes glaring daggers at the reflective glasses which covered Shino's eyes. Shino seemed to get the message as he draped Kiba's other arm over his shoulder. "That's what I thought," said the clone as the two of them walked Kiba down the street, the clone creating a plan to get all of the drugs out of the Genin's system and hopefully set him on to a different path from the one he seemed to be currently spiralling down.

...

Ino walked down the street slowly, having left Naruto's house long ago before any of the others had a chance to get up. She assumed that Tenten was awake just not willing to get out of bed, having been introduced to the rest of Team Gai herself she knew that she would want to spend as little time with them as possible. Having completed the mission that Asuma had set for them earlier, Ino had opted to not follow them to the usual barbeque joint, stating that she was watching how much she ate. Asuma and Choji accepted this however the look she got from Shikamaru told her that she wasn't off the hook just yet. She hoped that the intelligent Genin decided that it was too troublesome to ask for any details considering it wasn't directly linked to him.

"Ino!" shouted a voice from upwards and the blonde turned her direction towards the roof of the Ramen stand...to find Naruto tied to a poll looking severely worse for wear.

"Naruto?" questioned Ino as she used her nearby surroundings to get up to where the chef was tied, several lines of rope wrapping his wrists together.

"Thank you, none of the other shinobi were willing to help me down from here," said Naruto, not mentioning the fact that Kakashi had sworn anybody who knew why Naruto was suffering decided to help the boy they would face an even worse fate.

"What happened?" asked Ino.

"I pissed off Kakashi," said Naruto. "Anyway, can you untie me?"

"Hold on, before that I want to talk to you about why we were all in your bed last night," said Ino.

"Alright but be quick, I'm losing feeling in my fingers," said Naruto happy he couldn't see the state of his hands.

"Last night, I used my family's jutsu in order to take control of your body," stated Ino to which Naruto nodded, understanding now why he couldn't remember the latter half of the night. "In your body, I made love to Sakura in such a passionate way that it was exhilarating. I've never experienced what it's like to have...that thing down there but the way it got big felt incredible."

"Please get back on topic," said Naruto not trying to imagine what Ino had gone through.

"Right, sorry," said Ino blushing a bit. "Anyways, in your body I concluded that Sakura has feelings for you much greater than I do for her. I figured this out recently when I remembered that your genjutsu doesn't target your greatest love in the room, but the person you have the strongest connection to, in this case, me and Sakura have been friends for years. I'd only met you that day, of course I wasn't going to imagine you were on top of me. I just twisted it in my mind to believe that I was in love with Sakura, the fact of when the genjutsu broke and she was on top of me might have helped. I'm unsure of my feelings at the moment and believe that it would be for the best if I have a few days to myself to come to grips with things, maybe I'll chase after Sasuke again since nobody else seems interested anymore."

"So in conclusion?"

"I want Sakura to be happy, so I'm going to break up with her tonight," proclaimed Ino.

"I can't give any advice on the subject, my knowledge in the whole dating department isn't as big as some might suggest," said Naruto shrugging his shoulders.

"Wait, you're saying you've never had a girlfriend?" asked Ino.

"I'm not sure, I gave Hinata a kiss on the mission to Wave but I didn't initiate it, I just let her do what she wanted," said Naruto. "I know Sakura and Hinata tried to get the information out of me about that but then we were attacked by Zabuza and suddenly chat time was over."

"I heard rumours about that, did you really fight that guy?"

"Yea, but neither of us were serious. He needed to capture me alive and I wanted to get close to his boss. When I heard that his assistant had blocked off Hinata and Sakura I created a signal fire to try and get either of the sensei to help the girls, that's when he got me though."

"Wait, so you were captured and then what happened?" asked Ino, intrigued by the story.

"Broke out of my bonds and with the help of the Zabuza and his assistant, massacred everybody in sight and went on my merry way," said Naruto in an awkwardly statistical tone, as if it was an everyday occurrence. He noticed the small gasp of shock escape Ino's lips. "From time to time it will be our job to kill or render an enemy incapable of moving. I did what was best for the community, likewise when you were out of it I killed a member of the council because they were going to break one of the Third's laws."

"You killed a council member!"

"Nobody told you? I stabbed a guy through the chest with my hand when he was going to stab me from behind, case closed."

"That seems a bit extreme," analysed Ino.

"I was just pissed off that my fight with Sasuke got cancelled because the council believe they know best. That and Danzo was just trying to provoke me into making a mistake which would see me thrown into prison."

"Stabbing a guy through the chest isn't enough to send you to jail?"

"Apparently not since I was in the right but I'd suggest not finding out for yourself," said Naruto. "Now, could you untie me, I'd rather plot a way to get my old sensei back for what he did to me."

"Oh yea, sorry," said Ino remembering why she was up there in the first place. Walking behind Naruto, she pulled out a kunai and slashed at the rope, Naruto flexing his fingers as he rubbed at his wrists. "If you were able to break away from being tied up in Wave, why couldn't you break out of that?"

"That...that's not something I can say," said Naruto.

"What are you talking about?" asked Ino, curious as to what Naruto was hiding. "C'mon you can tell me?"

"If I told you I'd have to kill you," said Naruto calmly, his voice radiating no murderous intent but the calm chill tone made Ino believe him completely.

"O...Okay," said Ino nervously, unsure how she was meant to follow up on that.

"Well that's not entirely true, if the information was leaked then heads would roll," said Naruto rubbing the back of his head. "So in the end it's probably for the best if you didn't know."

"I think you're right, anyways, can I get a bowl of ramen, I'm starving."

"Sure thing," said Naruto as both he and Ino leapt down from the roof just as Hinata and Hanabi were leaving. "Leaving so soon?"

"You were up there for at least an hour," said Hanabi, making it sound like a justifiable excuse.

"Hmm, didn't seem that long," muttered Naruto stroking his chin.

"A-Anyways, father will be upset if we don't get home soon," said Hinata.

"Fair enough, I'll see you guys in a couple of days for training again," said Naruto with a large grin splitting his face. The two Hyuga sisters politely bowed before they walked away from the Ramen stand, leaving the bar nearly completely empty as the clones set about cleaning up for the night. Both Hinata and Hanabi looked over their shoulders at Naruto and Ino and a slight sense of jealousy washed over both of them as they walked in the other direction.

"Why are you training them?" asked Ino as she took a seat on a nearby stool.

"That's a story for another occasion," said Naruto with a chuckle, not really wanting to get into the details about how he had ended up in bed with Hanabi, which reminded him to ask Tenten one day just what had happened.

"Fine be that way," said Ino as Naruto stuck his tongue out playfully which put him on the receiving end of a light slap across the shoulder.

"Here you go boss," said a clone as he placed a bowl in front of both Ino and Naruto.

"Cheers," said Naruto as he split his chopsticks before reaching to where his bottle of Sake should have been, only for his fingers to grasp nothing but air.

"You've got to go see Teuchi and do the monthly payment tonight," said the clone which caused Naruto to groan slightly. He shrugged his shoulders though, knowing that he was going to be having at least another bowl of ramen before nights end.

...

"So, is this your new plan in life?" asked Kakashi as he eyed Sasuke's new purchase.

"Well it's something to fall back on, if something were to render me unable to be an active shinobi for a period of time I don't want to be sitting around doing nothing while waiting to heal," explained the Uchiha. "Besides, making a bit of extra money on the side is never a bad thing."

"Well you're going to need to hire people to help you, serve drinks and the like, while you've got a solid foundation there's still a lot to prepare before you open shop," said Kakashi. "Maybe you could hire a couple of genin, get them into the feel of having to do odd jobs which may help them at a later date."

"Perhaps," mused Sasuke. "In that case I'd need to get uniforms."

"Apart from that, how have you gone in deciphering your family scrolls?" asked the copy nin.

"There's one weapon I want to look into which included a pool cue loaded with senbon that fired when chakra is channelled into the base," explained Sasuke.

"All good in theory but do you have any idea how to build something like that?"

"Well...umm..."

"Didn't think so. Still one step at a time," said Kakashi.

"Cheers Sensei," said Sasuke as the copy ninja walked out, leaving Sasuke to ponder what he was going to need to purchase in order to get the building ready for opening. "I'm going to need to build most of the tables from scratch, which could take weeks. I wonder if Naruto would be willing to lend me a couple of those shadow clones of his to help me put this place in shape."

...

"Alright guys, you can let me out now, I'm all better," shouted Kiba from the darkness of the closet he was locked in, Shino and the Naruto clone standing vigilantly outside of the tight space. Their idea of helping Kiba had included tying him to a chair and locking him in a confined area and wait for all the drugs to get out of his system.

"You're just going to have to bare with it for a few more hours," replied the clone.

"Like hell I am!" shouted Kiba. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me and as a sign of appreciation for helping me, I'll let you take Akamaru for a walk."

"You make it sound like such a thing is a pleasure," stated Shino.

"Akamaru's a god compared to you!" shouted Kiba.

"Maybe we should leave him be," suggested Shino, not appreciating the fact that he was insulted.

"It's probably for the best, I'll come back for him later," said the clone as he poofed out of existence, a small cloud of smoke covering the ground where he had stood. Shino stood there for a moment, contemplating whether or not he could ween a bit more money out of his fellow genin but knew better than to face the wrath of an angry ramen chef.

...

"So that's pretty much my day," said Naruto as he finished the bowl of ramen his master had made for him. The small stand was nearly deserted considering the fact that the sun had set an hour earlier, barely anybody wandered the streets this time of night unless they were up to trouble.

"Even as a chef your life seems hectic," said Teuchi with a smile.

"You don't know the half of it," said Naruto as he placed his chopsticks down.

"You'd be surprised," said Ayame smiling peacefully but Naruto couldn't help but be curious about her comment.

"So, how's business been down this neck of the woods?" asked Naruto.

"Same old same old," said Teuchi with a sigh. "I kinda miss the presence of all the ninja from time to time but the stands become really popular with us normal folk as of late."

"It's been getting busy," said Ayame backing up her father's statement.

"I imagine, with the Chunin exams around the corner you'll be getting a good number of customers," said Naruto.

"That depends on whether or not they all come and visit you instead," said Teuchi wondering if any customers at all would end up coming to his stand in comparison to Naruto's.

"I'm sure they will, somehow I doubt having a bite to eat in the middle of an army would persuade them to return," said Naruto as he got to his feet.

"Come by more often Naruto, we don't get to see you that often," said Ayame.

"I'll see what I can do," said Naruto with a smile as he left the small stand. Walking down the street, he felt a sense of peace and serenity as the moonlight danced across the sky.

"Well well well, look who it is," said a voice from a nearby rooftop and Naruto tilted his head to see Jiraiya sitting there, a pad and pencil in hand as he concluded his research for the night.

"Do you think if you ever entered a battle without introducing yourself people would believe that you're not a pervert?" asked Naruto as he leapt up to be by the Sannin's side.

"My legacy is far too great for that," chuckled Jiraiya. "'I've been doing some research..."

"No shit," interrupted Naruto.

"Actually this info was on much more pressing matters," said Jiraiya which caused Naruto's eye to rise ever so slightly.

"Is it about the Akatsuki?" asked Naruto.

"Not this time, this danger lies a lot closer home than anything else," explained Jiraiya. "I was talking to Sarutobi earlier and the topic shifted to you and he seemed to know a lot more than what he'd just hear on the streets and from you directly."

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.

"I believe that he's having you monitored," concluded Jiraiya which caused a frown to form across Naruto's lips as he listened to what the Toad Sage had to say, accidentally forgetting that his clone had left Kiba in the cupboard in the process.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Leaf Ranger: Indeed we will.**

**Junky: It makes it interesting doesn't it.**

**I can't guarantee another chapter for a couple of weeks, I've got final essays for all of my university topics coming up and I kinda need to do really well on them. Alright peace out and please review.**


	21. The Lucky Shuriken

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Naruto stared at the ceiling in complete darkness, not a single light shone within his room. For once his bed was remarkably empty with himself being the only occupant within the covers of the sheet. Despite the sleep he knew he should be getting, his mind was far too active, racing through the information Jiraiya had given him over and over again. Somebody was keeping tabs on him. When Naruto had asked for proof the toad hermit pulled out one of the old reports from just after Naruto quit being a ninja, sadly there was no name on the document but rather their ANBU codename, Dove.

Twisting to his side, Naruto considered asking Kakashi who dove was but that would only arouse suspicion and could leave to trouble down the track. If he went and confronted the Hokage directly about this it wouldn't only affect him but also Jiraiya, which as much as he hated the pervert from time to time he wouldn't go about sabotaging his relationship with the village. This was something that he needed to do himself, discreetly and without anybody picking up. He couldn't discuss this with anybody, yet how was he meant to obtain information when the only person he could truly trust was himself.

A growl of annoyance escaped his lips as he got out from underneath the blankets, his body quickly adjusting to the cold air the night brought. Tossing on an old coat, he clothed himself quickly as he took to the streets, his mind full and cluttered and hoping just to put his thoughts at ease. In the distance, he could hear the sound of laughter and heated arguments erupting from the nightlife that Konoha brought forth. His attention was far from it however as he made his way towards the Lawless Zone, unsure of why he was heading in such a direction but figured it was more memory orientated, having travelled there for days on end. What he didn't expect to see when he got through the connecting alleyway however was a light illuminating from a long abandoned store. Curious, Naruto walked towards the shop and pushed his way through the door only to be confronted with the sight of Sasuke accidentally smashing his thumb with a hammer as he tried to force a nail into place.

"Damn it!" cursed the Uchiha as he nursed the sore appendage, looking up to see Naruto in the middle of the doorway. "Naruto, what you doing here?"

"Couldn't sleep," he answered simply, running his fingers through his hair. "What about you?"

"I'm trying to set up shop, I want to open before the Chunin exams," explained Sasuke.

"You trying to compete with me?" asked Naruto, looking around at all the planks of wood and strips of felt that looked less than organised.

"I wouldn't dream of it, but I know there are going to be times when shinobi missions are hard to come by, so I'm thinking of an alternative option," said Sasuke as he resumed his hammering. "Kind of like how you have the ramen shop."

"Unlike you however, I'm not a registered ninja anymore," said Naruto. "So what kind of business you setting up here?" A smirk crossed Sasuke's lips as he told Naruto the answer, his smile soon mimicked by Naruto who liked the sound of the idea. "That should be entertaining, but you've got a lot of work to cut out if you want to try and get it done before the Chunin exams, even more so if you want it successfully up and running in which case you'd want it to have been active for a few weeks pre-hand. If I gave you a hand setting up, you reckon we can come to a business contract between your shop and mine."

"I like the sound of that," said Sasuke as he dropped the hammer and walked up to where Naruto was standing, firmly shaking the ramen chef's hand. "So when do you reckon we could get this place up and running, the Chunin exams are on in a month?"

"How does twenty four hours sound?" asked Naruto as he placed his hands in his patented pose.

...

Across the village, Naruto and Sasuke weren't the only ones who were having a restless night as Sakura stared at her window, the moonlight highlighting her features as she stared at the endless plains of nothingness. Her mother had long since gone to bed but after hearing Ino explain the situation to her and her subsequent search back into being single, Sakura had long since let her tears dry but felt a sense of emptiness about her. At first she had been upset but once Ino had explained that the feelings she had felt were forced upon her by her own silliness, Sakura then began to feel upset about herself, changing who she was for her friend.

Opening the window, she leapt out into the streets, bouncing from rooftop to rooftop with ease as she headed towards the nightclub, she desperately needed something to get her mind off of Ino. Such a thing would not be likely however as her trained eyes picked up the slumped form of the Yamanaka passed out in the side of an alley. Twisting abruptly, Sakura made her way to the ground below as she grasped Ino's shoulders. "Ino, you alright?" she asked.

"Iss shat you Shakura?" questioned Ino hazily as a single eyelid peered open. Sakura had to prevent herself from rubbing her eyes in frustration as she slowly realised that she hadn't been the only one hurt by the situation.

"C'mon Ino, let's get you home," said the pink haired kunoichi as she pulled Ino to her feet.

"Shanks Shakura, you're my besht friend," complimented Ino as she draped an arm over Sakura's shoulders, effectively putting her entire weight on the genin.

"Best friend huh," repeated Sakura, letting the words sink in as she started to walk towards the Yamanaka household, intent on delivering their daughter home in one piece.

...

"My head," complained Ino as she sat at the ramen bar, the day's training and missions all but over for the team. She sat on the right side of her team with Chouji situated in the middle eating away happily and Shikamaru on the outer side.

"That's what you get for drinking too much," stated Shikamaru as he slowly ate away at the food in front of him.

"Well EXCUSE...oww oww oww," moaned Ino, the slight raise in voice having sent a fresh spiral of brain reverberating through her mind.

"Troublesome," muttered Shikamaru, knowing that he'd get no vocal help from Chouji who was on to his fourth bowl already. Instead he focused on Naruto, the original Naruto who was working in the kitchen. Unlike his usual self, the Uzumaki seemed to be a bit down in the dumps, as if something heavy was on his mind. Cutting up vegetables, such a simple task which could be done in seconds by somebody of his calibre, was taking minutes and Shikamaru couldn't help but be a little curious about what was on the chef's mind. "What's wrong with your boss?" he asked a clone standing nearby.

"He has a lot on his mind and kinda pulled an all nighter to try and clear his thoughts," explained the clone as it picked up a couple of empty bowls.

"How can you pull an all nighter as a chef?" asked Chouji, wondering if the quality of food was suddenly going to take a drop.

"Not here, rather he was helping Sasuke put his new shop together down the street, should be opening tonight if all goes well," said the clone before it went about its business.

"Even Sasuke's opening a shop now," said Shikamaru as Ino's ears picked up at the sound of her long time crush. "What is it with kids our age wanting to be entrepreneurs?"

"Well neither Sasuke nor Naruto have any family, they'd have to make money somehow," said Chouji.

"So Sasuke went through ninja academy just to start up his own business," summarised Shikamaru. "Troublesome."

"A change of heart perhaps, what do you think Ino?" asked Chouji turning around to where his teammate was sitting, only to find that she had vanished during the middle of the conversation. Chouji wondered where the blonde teenager had gotten off to but his eyes fell upon the full bowl of ramen that she had attempted to eat only to stop because of her raging headache. "No point in letting it go to waste," he said happily as he grabbed the bowl, the thoughts of the prior conversation pushed to the back of his mind. As for where Ino was, the blonde haired girl clutched at her head as she blocked her eyes from the bright sun bearing down upon her from above. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for and she soon found herself standing out front of the yet to be opened shop, a request for potential employees to come inside for an interview covering the windows. Nervously, Ino pushed open the door and stepped inside.

...

"Damn it," cursed Naruto as the blade he was holding accidentally sliced the corner of his finger, a small splash of blood splattering across the vegetables he had been cutting, effectively making them useless. Rubbing his forehead in annoyance, he summoned another clone with the instructions of throwing out the bad food and quickly making a fresh batch. As the clone set about his duties, Naruto made his way to the corner of the kitchen and from this position he watched the customers interact with one another as the small wound stitched itself back up. His eyes however were focused on his customers, people he had actively socialised with every day since he had opened up the shop. People who could potentially be the shinobi that the third Hokage had spying on him.

The amount of information he and his clones leaked out on a daily basis was a vast amount, solely because socialising was part of the job requirements. Simple questions such as 'how was your day' and 'what's been happening' suddenly took on new meaning for the blonde chef. The only people he knew he could count off of the list were those his age and above. Since the fabled Uchiha Itachi, there had never been a child ANBU on record, and as such he could reduce the number of potential people by a handful, but not enough to start narrowing down the crowd. It also helped him to know that one of the first reports had come when he had just quit being a ninja. Yet this also complicated problems further, because it broadened the range of people potentially keeping tabs on him yet again, anybody could have asked either Ayame or Teuchi about how Naruto was faring and they'd gather all the information they'd need.

A frustrated groan escaped his lips as he rubbed his eyes in annoyance. "Four guards tonight," he said as he headed towards the back door. On his way out of the small workplace, his eyes fell upon a very familiar cupboard with a small dog scratching at the wood. "Oh shit Kiba!"

...

"Doesn't this look interesting," said Kakashi as he walked through his students new store. "I hope you are not planning on using this as an excuse to get out of training."

"No, my path to being a ninja is still clear, this is just a little side business," said Sasuke as he placed the deck of cards to the side of the bar. "When we're sent on long term missions I've got a business partner who's willing to run the joint for me."

"By the speed this was built, I'd say it's Naruto," said Kakashi. "Well two of my patented students may not get the chance to fight on the same field together, but they still get the opportunity to work together in one form or another. I saw your sign stating that you were searching for employees, any luck?"

"There were a lot more applicants than I would have thought of, even a couple of Genin signed up. I've got the employees some uniforms and since it's opening night and everybody employed is working we should have a full house available tonight," said Sasuke.

"Naruto's not helping?"

"He's going to be a customer tonight."

"That'll be a site to see," said Kakashi. "I'd get a nap in before you open shop tonight, there's a buzz going around about this place opening so expect a big one."

"Thanks for the advice sensei," said Sasuke as Kakashi walking out the door, the Jonin's thoughts going back to the time he had met the Uchiha who stated that he wanted nothing more than to kill the man who took everything away from him. Now, you would hardly recognise the two as the same person.

"I don't know how you do it Naruto, but you have a way with people that others could only imagine," said Kakashi, smiling behind his mask.

...

"Again, I'm sorry about what happened," apologized Naruto as Kiba walked by his side.

"It's alright," said Kiba brushing it off. After Naruto had rescued Kiba from the cupboard, the ninja starving after being left in there for over twenty four hours, Naruto had taken him back to his place for a feed, one which the Genin had greatly needed. "Anyways, I've got no urge to smoke anything and I feel great."

"That's good to hear but Marijuana isn't usually a drug that'll do that to somebody, it's more of a mellow thing," explained Naruto.

"I think its cause of this," said Kiba pointing to his nose. "You know our families got a distinct sense of smell so everything was enhanced a hundred fold which I reckon is what made it so addictive."

"There's probably more but let's stick with that," said Naruto brushing it off.

"Anyways, where we heading, it's getting a little late isn't it?" asked Kiba, wondering why they were heading back towards the Lawless Zone.

"Well after what just happened, somehow I think you need a bit of fun tonight," said Naruto as they walked through the alleyway. Only a single light illuminated the streets and it was coming from the newly opened shop. Kiba, looking at the roof, read the sign aloud, "The Lucky Shuriken?"

"Don't you know it," said Naruto as he headed towards the door, pushing the object forward allowing Kiba to see the inside. To say that the building was crowded would be an understatement as shinobi of all ranks and ages laughed and played as they gambled their money away at the newly constructed gambling den. Kiba looked in fascination as people played with cards and dice, happily laughing at each other's expense and on their own good luck.

"When the hell did this get here?" he asked amazed at what he was seeing.

"You'd be surprised what can happen in a night," said Naruto with a smile as the two teenagers were greeted by an employee wearing an incredibly revealing bunny girl outfit complete with ears and tail. The outfit was purple in colour and the genin wearing it was also wearing high heels which by the looks of it were slightly out of their comfort range, but they bore with the situation as best they could.

"Welcome to the Lucky Shuriken, I'll be your host for this evening," said the bunny girl as they bowed deeply, holding a tray tightly against their breasts. As they stood back at full height, Kiba struggled to hold in his laughter as Ino looked them dead in the eyes, completely serious about her new part time job.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Lednacek: Getting yourself out of the situation would be against the rules.**

**Abe95: The migration huh, somehow that doesn't really phase me. I've got all my pieces backed away but I'll wait until the day this is forcibly removed for whatever reason before I consider posting it elsewhere.**

**I know the chapter is short but bare with me as of tomorrow I will be on vacation for a month minimum. Expect no new chapters during this time as I will literally be in the middle of nowhere having a good time. So until next time, peace out.**


	22. Smells of Ramen

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Naruto looked at the people around him, Kiba having dragged Ino away to deal whatever horrendous retribution to pay back for some action that happened during their years at the academy. While the thought of watching the blonde haired girl flail around in her skimpy outfit would be entertaining, he had to see if he could find Jiraiya to ask him whether or not this had been his idea. He also pondered over the question as to whether or not if the two had done business with each other, if Sasuke had actually known he was talking to one of the Sannin. Speaking of the devil...

"All on black baby!" shouted a highly drunken Jiraiya, a women held loosely in each arm as he placed a wad of cash on to the table for all to see. Naruto watched as one of his mentors observed the spinning wheel, the white haired ninja indulging in the game of roulette. All eyes were on the dealer who shot the little white ball into the wheel, the small sphere bouncing a number of times before it finally came to a stop.

"Red Twenty Seven," announced the dealer as he took away what had once been Jiraiya's money.

"Damn it," whined Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya-kun, how we going to make the night extra fun if you lost all your money?" asked the woman under his right arm.

Instantly Jiraiya's eyes went wide as the prospect of getting both these girls in the same room with him became more than a dream. Immediately he started looking around for options when his eyes fell on his pupil and he quickly rushed over, "Yo Naruto, remember that time when I leant you money to go..."

"I paid you back," interrupted Naruto.

"Well what about the time..."

"That wasn't even worth bringing up."

"Then there was..."

"You took money from me that time, how would I owe you for that," exclaimed Naruto before he sighed, reaching into his back pocket for a few notes. "Try and win yourself a room but you ain't getting anymore out of me tonight." The blonde didn't even get as much as a thank you as the white haired pervert ran off to try and amass a small fortune for the two ladies who quickly followed him around to the next table. Naruto chuckled slightly, recalling the time he had spent with the Sannin and while it had been more than annoying at times, he still wouldn't have changed anything about the training trip.

"Sir, would you like a drink?" asked a nearby waitress causing the blonde to turn around and his mouth to go wide as he looked at the scantily dressed woman in front of him.

"Why the hell is Sasuke using my clones as waitresses?" shouted Naruto but his voice was drowned out by the crowd around him.

"Well boss," replied the female clone. "Once we finished constructing the building Sasuke asked us for a few ideas on the theme. A few of us performed a henge and he picked from the selection we offered then gave us the ultimatum of working for him for a bit of side money."

"So much is wrong with this situation it's not funny, and I don't even want to know what other ideas you guys had," said Naruto in an exasperated tone. "Just tell the others that you are to dispel when I'm asleep, no way in hell do I want your guys memories bombarding my thoughts when I'm awake."

"Yes boss," said the clone as they walked off, the message clear in their mind.

"Now they're taking on their own side business, you take your eyes off them for one second," mumbled Naruto as he walked through the crowd. While he wasn't willing to buy a drink off of himself, he still felt the craving which seemed to be fuelling his desire every day. Perhaps he should talk to Kakashi and see whether or not he was developing a problem. Sitting down at the bar, he observed the people around him, laughing and gambling away, knowing that there was a possibility that someone in here was potentially spying on him, watching his every mood. The very thought made him down his drink as soon as it was placed in front of him.

"You know you usually pay for it before you drink it," replied the barkeep.

"I'll create a tab," said Naruto, knowing he was going to be buying more than one drink for the night.

"So long as you can pay it by day's end," said the barman, as he went about sorting out what needed to be done as Naruto noticed his company at the bar.

"Yosh Naruto-kun, the flames of life have dwindled within your eyes," shouted Lee but for once his voice failed to carry much further than his intended target. "Perhaps you should embark with me on a night run around the village two hundred times!"

"I'm good Lee," said Naruto waving the offer off to the side. "Where's your sensei at?"

"Gai-sensei has challenged his eternal rival Kakashi to see who can amass the most money by night's end," explained Lee.

"Well at least nothing should get destroyed in this challenge," stated Naruto.

"I am sure Gai-sensei's fires of youth will burn brightly in this challenge!" exclaimed Lee.

"There's nothing youthful about gambling," said Naruto but Lee didn't hear him as he went off in search for his mentor. Though Naruto was happy about one thing with the situation, Lee had managed to stay away from anything alcoholic for the time being, he needed to be sure to tell Sasuke that in order to prevent him from doing anything stupid...or he could wait and see how the best of the grade handled against a drunken Lee.

"Let's go test my luck," said Naruto as he reached in to his back pocket, pulling out a small wad of cash. He had no intention of spending a fortune, by all means he had the wealth to but he didn't trust his own luck to provide enough money to keep the shop running. Eventually he found a game that he could enjoy and sat down at a Blackjack table, betting no more than the minimum wage. The true reason he sat down was for the fact that he needed to make himself look vulnerable, an event like this was sure to draw a crowd and as such he needed to see whether or not anybody looked at him funny or made notes.

For nearly an hour he didn't move from his spot, every now and again a waitress came around and gave him a drink but his eyes continued to shift around at everybody and anybody who got near him. Many people though didn't make eye contact of any variety, all of them too caught up in their own festivities as they gambled away their hard earned money. Naruto questioned just how much the casino would make over the course of the night but pushed this thought to the back of his head as he continued to play. Back when he was a child he was never this patient, but now he was willing to wait the whole night out if it gave him the chance to find out who was keeping tabs on him.

Hour by hour the clients began to leave slowly, the noise around him slowly coming to a grinding halt as he soon found himself to be the only person left within the complex besides those who worked there and a few people that had passed out on the floor nearby. "You still at it Naruto," stated Ino as she walked past, holding her service tray in her hands.

"You're still wearing that outfit," remarked Naruto.

"Touché," said Ino as she took a seat next to her fellow blonde.

"Enjoy your first night?" asked Naruto, paying little attention to the cards he had been dealt.

"Blackjack," announced the dealer as he paid Naruto one and a half times what the blonde had bet.

"It was interesting, I've never been hit on the ass so many times," moaned Ino as she gave her behind a slight rub. "But I got a truckload in tips and I even got a few numbers."

"Sounds like a success," said Naruto as he put some more money onto the table.

"Well now I'm going to be able to buy this dress I've been eyeing off for so long," said Ino.

"Blackjack," announced the dealer once again as he paid the required sum. Naruto's eyes shifted slightly, as he quickly pushed Ino's current speech to the back of his mind as he placed all of his money forward which got a slight gasp of response out of Ino. Both the blondes watched as the dealer dealt out the cards. "Blackjack."

"Congratulations Naruto!" shouted Ino as she tried to hug the Uzumaki only to find that he had vanished. "Naruto?" asked Ino as she looked around wondering where the chef had run off to.

As for the blonde in question, he stood in the street just outside of the Lucky Shuriken. He had never been one for superstition, but for three Blackjack's to come up in a row was unnatural, the odds of such a thing occurring were astronomical. Looking around at the surroundings, his gaze caught the slight rustling of leaves and faster than the eye could see he was off. His hunch had proven right as he quickly found himself following a shinobi who was doing their best to escape from the blonde. "Get back here!" he shouted, knowing that it wouldn't actually make them stop but what else could he say in the situation.

The ANBU turned their head over their shoulder, Naruto getting a good look at the mask that adorned their face and a small smirk crossed his lips as he found himself looking at a dove. The ANBU reached into a back pocket and pulled out a number of kunai and shuriken, unleashing the weapons at their disposal. Naruto twisted in midair, easily evading the projectiles as he picked up the pace. It only took another few seconds before Naruto had got within reaching distance but was caught off guard as the ninja twisted on the spot, lifting their leg high and delivered a vicious axe kick to the top of Naruto's head, knocking the blonde chef into the tree branch just as he had landed.

Naruto shook his head momentarily as he watched the ANBU try to make another getaway; only by reflex did he reach up momentarily and grab at their uniform, tearing some of the fabric off as they leapt away. As Naruto got to his feet, he pocketed the small cloth, knowing that it would likely help him later on before resuming chase. The ANBU though had had enough of being followed and had landed in a small clearing wielding a small weapon in each hand. As Naruto landed, he carefully observed the ninja in front of him. They were lean and agile, not to mention their kick had been a solid strike, no doubt they took good care of their legs. His eyes drifted to the small hole he had made and noticed that the small chunk of leg that was showing had not a single hair on it. "Alright spill, who are you?" asked Naruto as he took up a fighting stance.

He didn't expect an answer and he wasn't given one as the ANBU tossed a single kunai at the blonde. Naruto twisted his body across his hand reaching forward as he snatched the projectile out of the air and now found the ANBU charging directly for him. A clang of metal on metal rang through the area as the kunai clashed. Naruto struck out with his foot, only for it to be parried as the two combatants began to perform a deadly dance, yet neither were going for a lethal strike. Naruto was aware that the person he was fighting was a member of the Leaf and as such had to hold back to a certain degree, while he knew that the person fighting him wouldn't kill a target they had been told to follow.

"Damn they're good," cursed Naruto as he tried to kick at their ribs, blinking slowly as his attack broke through their guard and struck true. A cry of pain echoed through the forest and Naruto found himself pausing momentarily as if his memory was trying to pick up where he had heard that sound before but due to the alcohol he had been sipping at all night his mind was too fogged up. One thing was certain though, the voice was definitively female.

From their position on the ground, the ninja made a single hand seal which caused the blonde to be on guard, only to find that an illusion vanished. "Genjutsu," he muttered, this ANBU had clearly done their homework on what his weakness was. Yet the Genjutsu was nothing fancy, rather it showed that the kunai Naruto had caught out of the air at the beginning of the battle had had a tiny ball attached to a string dangling off the handle. The entire battle he had been holding an explosive and he hadn't even known it. "Clever," muttered Naruto as the ball grew brightly.

The explosion didn't cause a ball of fire to char the night sky, but rather a thick cloud of pepper enveloped the area and the results were instantaneous. "Ahchoo!" sneezed Naruto as he found the black mist quickly blocking up his sinuses. His eyes became watery and he found himself flailing around as he discovered that it was hard to breathe without his throat feeling like it was on fire. Shaking his head, his hands rushed through a number of seals before he pointed his attack at the ground. "Futon Senpūken!" shouted Naruto as he fired a torrent of wind at the ground. The wind bounced off of the solid floor and spread in all directions, clearing the surrounding area of the hazardous mist. Rubbing his eyes, Naruto wasn't surprised to see that the ANBU had taken the chance to get away. "Damn it," he cursed before he sneezed again, knowing that sleeping tonight was going to be annoying as all hell.

...

"Dude, did you bath this thing in pepper or something?" asked Kiba as he smelled at the fabric that had been presented to him.

"Shut up and tell me what else you can smell on it," said Naruto not in the mood. He had offered Kiba a free meal if he would tell him what scents resided on the fabric he had managed to get from the battle. As of the moment, Kiba seemed like the only one he could really trust. While he hadn't told the Inuzuka where he had gotten it from, Kiba seemed more than eager to help. Naruto hadn't wanted to ask anybody else otherwise suspicions might rise and he could be caught in the act.

"All I smell on this dude is pepper and ramen, everything else is too faint and is being drowned out," explained Kiba.

"It smells of ramen!" exclaimed Naruto as he slammed his hands into his face. If it smelt of the food that he cooked and served to dozens of people on a day to day basis it basically removed nobody from his suspicions. "Cheers anyways," he said in a defeated tone.

"Sure thing man, but umm, could we get out of this closet?" asked Kiba starting to become a little claustrophobic after his last encounter with such small confines.

"Sorry man," said Naruto as he opened the door. To ensure that they weren't watched he had taken the initiative to have this meeting within the privacy of the food storage closet. "Just don't tell anybody about this okay."

"Done man, now where's that ramen, I'm starving," said Kiba almost salivating at the mouth. Naruto didn't even need to say anything as the genin rushed towards the front counter, determined to spend his prior night's winnings on filling his stomach. Like many people, Kiba had walked away with a worthy amount of money in their pocket. Others however...

"How could I have ended up twenty five thousand Ryu down!" exclaimed Gai as he slammed his head against the bench top.

"Don't take out your frustrations on my furniture," stated Naruto as he joined his clones as he placed a serve of food in front of Kakashi.

"Meanwhile my eternal rival won our challenge by not making a single bet all night," sniffed Gai, upset at losing another challenge.

"It was the smart choice," said Kakashi as he placed his chopsticks down over the empty bowl of ramen.

"Dammit Kakashi, how the hell can you eat my food so quickly, you don't even try to savour the taste at all," cursed Naruto as a clone took the empty bowl to the kitchen to be cleaned.

"I eat your food so quickly because I enjoy the meal," said Kakashi smiling from behind his mask which went unseen by everybody around him.

"Sure you do," muttered Naruto. "Anyways, I've got to go train the Hyūga girls as per my arrangement with Hiashi."

"Have fun," said Kakashi as he waved to his former student who quickly made his way down the street. "Already teaching at his age, who would have thought it after everything that happened."

"Oh, Kakashi my eternal rival, would you happen to know why Naruto quit being a shinobi of the leaf?" asked Gai who quickly perked up.

"Maybe," replied Kakashi as he pulled out his favourite book.

"Would you mind telling your eternal rival such a well hidden secret so that I may better understand young Naruto's suffering?" asked Gai.

"No."

"Your hip attitude knows no bounds Kakashi!"

...

**Hope you enjoy.**

**Leaf Ranger: Oh won't they.**

**Thankful One: Yea, didn't want to give marijuana a bad rap now did I. Actually contemplating having Kiba go into the academy and teach about the dangers of illicit drugs.**

**I can't guarantee many updates at the moment due to being in my final semester of university and I really don't want to fail and come back next year. Anyways, until next time, peace out.**


	23. Revelations over Ramen

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

…

"Well, I guess you can keep it since you were with him at the time," said Sasuke as he looked at the amount of money Naruto had won and had left on the casino table.

"Really Sasuke-kun!" exclaimed Ino as she held back from leaping on top of her employer. Under normal circumstances she would have but it would have scattered the money separating them in all directions and even though she was temporarily able to go on a shopping spree that didn't mean she wanted to spend the better part of an hour picking up cash off the floor.

"If he comes to you and says that he wants it though, you'll probably have to give it to him," said Sasuke which gave Ino a kind of deflated look.

"Maybe I'll take it to him now since he or his clones should have opened shop by now," said Ino as she scooped the money into a bag.

"Yeah, go with that," said Sasuke as he brushed it off. "Anyways, I'll see you tonight, same time alright?"

"Done," said Ino as she finished placing the money in the bag. "See you later Sasuke-kun." The last Uchiha of Konoha didn't respond as he started walking towards the office, needing to get on to the finances before he rested before the nights activities. Plus at some stage he needed to make sure he did some training and a small part of him prayed that Kakashi didn't appear now determined to take him on a D ranked mission.

Ino meanwhile, had left the store with a spring in her step. She looked at the small ramen shop and noticed that there seemed to be a decent amount of customers there at this time and a part of her felt really bad if she burdened Naruto with the decision about the money at this moment in time. Resigning for a later hour, Ino headed towards the centre of town where a sale had started, knowing Naruto wouldn't mind if she spent a small portion of his winnings.

Naruto watched as the two Hyūga sisters battled out against one another, each trying to land a successful hit on their adversary that would tilt the bout in their favour. Naruto paid little attention to it though, there wasn't anyway that he could improve on the typical Hyūga fighting style, only one of the clan members would be any good to do something of that magnitude. Since to thirds of Team Eight now rested in his palms, he had to do something to ensure that they would have an advantage in some way, shape or form when the Chunin exams came around. The chef knew that the expectations on him were high to ensure that Kurenai's team not only performed well independently but coherently as a group as well. Yet his mind struggled to function properly at the moment, perhaps some of the pepper from the previous night had gotten lodged in his head.

"Naruto-sensei," said Hinata timidly from nearby which caused Naruto to return back to the realm of the living, breaking him away from his daydream.

"Oh, sorry," he apologized as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well were we good or not?" asked Hanabi sporting a number of small injuries much like her sister.

"Neji would be a better one to ask about such a thing, I can't judge a fighting style that is competing against an identical style."

"Then what was the point of getting us to fight then?" asked Hanabi a bit flustered that she had spared evenly with her sisters for apparently no particular reason.

"Haven't your D grade missions taught you anything yet?" asked Naruto in response which caused the young Hyūga to go silent momentarily. "When you two compete in the Chunin exams, you're going to be fighting a number of battles especially if you make it to the final round where you will compete in front of an audience a number of times. As soon as one person has seen your fighting style and realises it is similar to what they have already seen, they will figure out a way to counter it."

"Father states that no other form of Taijutsu can best the Gentle Fist style," said Hanabi firmly holding by that belief.

"At the moment I'd believe that your cousin Neji would be bested by his teammate Lee in a one on one Taijutsu battle considering I know what they are both capable of. However that's not the point, if an opponent can't beat you in hand to hand they will figure out another way to go about combating you." Naruto paused for a moment to let his words sink in. "The problem with Taijutsu is that you have to be close to your opponent in order to do any damage. While you're chasing them and they are running away they can, and will, be throwing shuriken and kunai at you in order to keep their distance. If they don't want a confrontation in hand to hand combat they will do their best to avoid it. Your father is correct in that very few people could beat a Gentle Fist user provided their skill level is Jōnin level or higher. As such, you two need to think of someway to surprise your enemy, get them off guard which then allows you to get in close and deal the damage your fighting style can bring."

"N-Naruto-kun," said Hinata causing the other two to look towards her. "If your opponents in the Chunin exams knew that you could use Shadow clones, how did you surprise them?"

"Excellent question, you're already realising that there are more than one way to go about a fight. In the first round of the tournament, I battled off against a ninja who was a Kenjutsu specialist. Tactic one was to try and find if he had a blind spot so I sent shadow clones. It didn't work, he killed them all with his sword so I had to figure out a way to disarm him, so I sent more shadow clones, or that's at least what I made it look like I was doing. While my clones battled him, I snuck underground as my clones herded him towards where I was and when he was over me I used the Earth Decapitation Technique and effectively ended the match right there and then."

"A tactic hidden by another tactic," summarised Hanabi.

"The good thing though was that I had only managed to show that I was capable of using shadow clones and simple Earth techniques while hiding my real capabilities for later rounds," explained Naruto. "Therefore, you two need to come up with a way to surprise your enemies with something other than the Gentle Fist in order to make a solid impact and force yourself into a winning position."

"Isn't that something you should be teaching us?" asked Hanabi.

"I think H-Hanabi, what Naruto-kun is saying is that we need to figure out our own ways to improve," said Hinata slightly uncertain but she received a reassuring nod of approval from Naruto which brought a smile to her lips.

"Exactly, break out of your normal mind sets and come back here in an hour with an idea of where you want to take your fighting levels and like your opponents, surprise me," said Naruto with a cheeky smile before he vanished, leaving the two sisters slightly stunned at the display.

"Something new," muttered Hanabi. "Maybe father would have an idea."

"Hanabi, I don't think we should ask father," said Hinata causing her sister to look at her peculiarly. "N-Naruto-kun will likely be expecting us to find inspiration from somewhere else rather than from family members, he may have already gone there to tell father not to help us in this situation."

"Bastard," muttered Hanabi as she looked around at her surroundings, as if waiting to see if anything would jump out of the woods to force an idea into her head. Something did jump out of the woods though, more precisely someone.

...

"What's troubling you?" asked Jiraiya as he sensed the presence of his former pupil. Tilting his head upwards from his peep hole, he spotted the young chef sitting on the roof, his legs dangling over the side nonchalantly.

"I ran into Dove last night," stated Naruto as his gaze viewed over the forest surrounding the village.

"Oh," said Jiraiya as he stood up. Part of him wanted to stay and get more research done but he knew that there would be another time. The toad hermit placed his writing tools on the ground as he leapt up to where the blonde was sitting.

"She managed to get away though," said Naruto slightly disheartened.

"She?" questioned Jiraiya.

"I caught up to them and we fought, I managed to break through their guard and their cry of pain was defiantly not from the mouth of a man," explained Naruto. "Then they used a pepper bomb and got away."

"Pepper bomb, I can imagine how that would be effective," said Jiraiya as he thought of the possibilities of using such an item the next time he got chased out of town by some thugs wanting him to pay up.

"So basically I'm back to square one," sighed Naruto.

"Cheer up," said Jiraiya turning around and patting Naruto on the shoulder. "At least you reduced your possible ANBU stalkers by fifty percent. Perhaps if you are willing to let me help you I'll look through all the female lockers for you."

"Why did I even come to you again?" Naruto questioned of himself as he rubbed his eyes with his forefinger and thumb. "Anyways, I got to go see what the Hyūga sisters have managed to come up with."

"If anything happens between you three be sure to tell me," shouted Jiraiya as Naruto leapt off in to the woods.

...

As Naruto returned to the clearing, a disturbing look of disgust crossed his face as he found Hanabi standing before him, wearing what could only be described as one of the most horrendous pieces of clothing imaginable...and it took every fibre of Naruto's being not to crack up laughing. "What?" said Hanabi trying to take everything as seriously as possible. "You told me to go find inspiration and I found this."

"Not quite what I meant," said Naruto snickering slightly.

"Naruto-kun, what better ways to find true inspiration then the clothes that provide youth!" exclaimed Guy, raising his fist high into the air. The blonde looked at Guy for a second before turning his attention back to Hanabi who wore a very similar outfit, one that clung to her body tightly.

"Youth is found within the person Guy, not the clothes," explained Naruto, taking a page out of Kakashi's book as he looked to the side.

"What a hip attitude!" shouted Guy as if his entire world had just come crashing down around him.

"Anyways Guy, I think Lee was lacking in youth, saying he was only going to do fifty push ups today instead of his usual routine," said Naruto.

"Lee-san!" screamed Guy at the top of his lungs as he ran off to find his pupil to ensure that the flames of youth did not burn out. As the dust settled Naruto and Hanabi remained there, silently looking at one another.

"Go ahead," said Hanabi. Naruto's fit of laughter lasted several minutes as he rolled across the ground, clutching at his ribs. Finally he calmed down enough to get up to his feet as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Sorry," apologized Naruto although it was clear from the tone of his voice he wasn't sincere about it.

"I should be sorry Naruto, for allowing that man to put such hideous clothes onto the body of a Hyūga," said Hanabi as if she had disgraced the name of her family.

"Be that as it may, there are actual advantages of that outfit," said Naruto as he composed himself. "While the defensive level of it is nowhere near leather armour...or anything part from normal clothes really...the flexibility of it is unmatched and it works as an acceptable camouflage. Whether or not it allows the wearer to feel more youthful I can't tell you, haven't suffered such a torment myself. Although I'm not sure whether or not it's the clothes or the wearer that creates that horrendous genjutsu."

"Genjutsu?" asked Hanabi mildly confused to what her mentor was getting at.

"Both Guy and his student Lee have the ability to cast a genjutsu whenever they start raving about youth in an over eccentric manner," explained Naruto.

"That wasn't over eccentric!" exclaimed Hanabi.

"You have no idea," said Naruto chuckling slightly. "When they really start going off it portrays them on a beach somewhere with the waves crashing on the rocks in the background, it really is rather quite blinding."

"That doesn't sound so bad," said Hanabi.

"If you ever have to suffer what we have suffered, you will understand," explained Naruto as he started looking around. "Where's your sister at?"

"That man got to her to, she's sitting on the river at the moment meditating," said Hanabi as she pointed out towards the nearby water source. Naruto followed the pointed finger to where he saw Hinata sitting atop the water, the gentle flow of the river not shifting her in the slightest.

"So she's already gotten her chakra control to that level," said Naruto out of praise.

"Can you teach me to do that?" asked Hanabi. Naruto thought about this for a moment before he placed his fingers together and a single shadow clone was formed.

"He'll teach you how to do the tree climbing exercise, something that'll be crucial if you ever want to become a higher than genin rank," explained Naruto as the clone nodded in agreement, knowing their purpose. Hanabi managed to hold in a shout of success as she paid attention to the clone who began teaching the fundamentals of the simple drill while the original Naruto made his way towards the waters edge. "Yo Hinata!"

Hearing her name, Hinata turned around swiftly but still managed to keep balance despite being above several feet of water. "N-Naruto-kun," she said softly as she got to her feet and turned towards Naruto, forcing the blonde to swallow nervously at the sight before him. Much like her younger sister, Hinata had been forced into the skin tight jumpsuit, yet Guy had never possibly thought of how such a thing would look upon a young woman who had curves in places men wouldn't dream of. Hinata's breasts were hugging against the fabric, each curve perfectly sculpted into the outfit she wore leaving nothing to the imagination.

"Naruto-kun!" shouted Hinata raising her voice, having tried to get her temporary sensei's attention for the past twenty seconds as her face became redder.

"I-I'm sorry, kind of zoned out there," said Naruto rubbing the back of his head, a flush of embarrassment flowing through his body.

"When I wear this outfit you laugh at me, when Hinata wears it you stare at her breasts," said Hanabi grumpily. Naruto and Hinata both flushed at the young girls point and looked away from one another, the Hyūga struggling to maintain her composure after her sister pointed out the obvious. For the longest of moments none of them made a sound, before Hanabi spoke again. "Anyways Naruto, I've decided what I want to learn."

"Yeah...about that..." said Naruto praying that either Kakashi or Jiraiya hadn't decided that this was the perfect time to come watch the young teacher in action. "I-I'm not feeling well today...take the rest of the day off...bye." Naruto shouted the last word as he ran off as fast as he could. While either of the two perverts watching him would have been bad enough, he could only imagine the reaction that would have occurred if Dove had been watching and how he could very easily find himself in a lot of trouble.

"Hanabi," said Hinata softly as she caught her sister's attention. "Was Naruto-kun really looking at my...my..."

"Yes he was, the pervert," said Hanabi with a slight tone of disgust. Yet underneath that was a hidden tone of disappointment, of not having felt such eyes upon her own being.

"I...I think it would be best if we don't tell father what happened here," said Hinata before the last of her strength gave way and she passed out, her body descending below the depths of the water forcing Hanabi to rush out and ensure that Hinata didn't drown.

...

Sasuke sat down at the bar stool with a sigh. Having just finished doing the office work he was pleased to find that his business had made a killing on the first day but now felt that he would need to hire an accountant to manage the finances. It had taken him several hours to get the work done, mainly due to the fact he had never done anything of the sort before and he was learning on the job.

"Here you go," said the Naruto clone as he handed a bowl of ramen to Sasuke.

"Cheers," said the black ahired boy as he began to dig into his food, before he paused momentarily. "Just curious, has Ino popped by today?"

"Ino, don't think so," responded the clone. "Why?"

"Figures," muttered Sasuke as he turned his attention back to the food in front of him, leaving the clone perplexed momentarily before they continued on with their work.

…

"You look flustered Naruto," said Teuchi as he placed a bowl of ramen in front of his former apprentice.

"Trust me, you don't want to know the details," said Naruto as he began to delve into his meal, hoping that the beautiful delight in front of him would help clear his mind. As he slurped away at the noodles, he noticed that something didn't seem quite right. "Hey where's Ayame at?"

"She went out last night and came home late with a busted rib, no idea how it happened though, she won't tell me anything." Naruto was happy that Teuchi's back was to him at this time because the young blonde couldn't stop the sudden realisation from spreading across his face. "That girl though, she's been going out a lot over the past few years but this is the first time she's come home with anything resembling an injury, let alone something as serious as a broken rib. Do you think she's in some kind of trouble Naruto?" As Teuchi turned around to look at his customer, he found that the blonde had vanished, a small pile of money resting next to a half eaten bowl of ramen.

...

Ayame turned her head as she heard the knocking on the door, she hadn't been expecting any visitors and she was fairly certain that her father had left for work with a key that morning. She figured that it must have been a door to door salesman or something of the like but when they knocked again, more aggressively than before she felt the need to go let out some vented anger. She slightly winced in pain as she got to her feet, gripping at the bandages that were tightly wrapped around her chest.

Once more the person knocked and Ayame couldn't help but shout out, "I'm coming." As she placed her hand on the doorknob, she twisted the lock and opened the wooden board to find Naruto standing there a look of saddened anger in his eyes. "Naruto..." Ayame said in a little more than a whisper as realisation swept over her being.

"If possible..." started Naruto as he brushed away a tear that had formed in his eye, "Could you come with me to the Hokage's office Ayame, or should I call you Dove."

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Leaf Ranger: Keep reading and you'll eventually find out.**

**Brian Stetzel: Bribes are a little hard to offer but just keep reading and reviewing and I'll do what I can.**

**Kakarot Son: …*sigh*…**

**Peace out.**


	24. Broken Noodles

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Out in the middle of a field, a shadow clone burst from existence, informing the original that Hanabi had just completed the tree climbing exercise whilst her older sister slept underneath a tree. Yet Naruto paid little attention to that memory as he stared at the leader of the village, the Sandaime Hokage feeling very vulnerable under the gaze of the teenager as Ayame stood uncomfortably nearby. The strongest man in the village felt his age creeping up on him and he wished that somebody would come and knock on his door, create some sort of distraction to allow him a moment to think. For the longest of times he had been aware that this day would come, yet he hadn't wanted to prepare for such a thing as it would be too disrespectful for the person he had one day hoped to wear the hat that now sat atop his brow. "Naruto," he said softly.

"Hokage," replied Naruto which made Sarutobi wince ever so slightly. Only once before had Naruto call the old man by his title and that had been when Naruto had quit being a ninja in the private talks they had had in this very office. Unlike then however, Naruto's rage was not upon those whom he had fled from, but rather at the man he had looked up to as a grandfather figure for the better half of his life.

"I'm sorry," said Sarutobi keeping eye contact with the young blood.

"Give me the reason, why did you want to keep an eye on me? Why did it have to be Ayame, the girl that I saw as a sister growing up? Tell me!" shouted Naruto struggling to keep his emotions in line.

"When..." started the Hokage, pausing ever so slightly in order to compose himself. "When you quit being a shinobi of the village, it was decided that somebody should keep an eye over you at all times in order to ensure a number of things. There was the possibility that you would turn rogue and also that your emotions would get out of hand and once more we would find the Kyuubi bearing down upon the village. Dove was created in order to watch and ensure nothing happened to disturb the peace of Konoha."

"Did you truly have such little faith in me?" exclaimed Naruto, nearly outraged at such a claim.

"I was one of a minority that voted against the act taking forth, but since we are a democracy it was decided by a majority vote."

"Why Ayame though?" said Naruto calming down slightly as he turned to look at the person he had grown up with, learning the art of cooking with her as one of his teachers despite her only being a couple of years older than him.

"I graduated the academy at a young age," explained Ayame. "On my first mission outside of the village however I took a poison senbon to the chest and it infected my left lung before the healers were able to prevent it from spreading any further, the damage done however was irreversible by anybody except the best medics imaginable. None of the doctors here would take me as a patient to try and fix such a wound."

"As such Ayame was taken off the active roster, without the use of a lung she would only slow down and put the lives of her teammates at risk," continued Sarutobi. "When you quit being a shinobi and this act was put forward, there were very few ninja available to take such a long term mission until we discovered that you had taken an apprenticeship at the ramen vendor."

"So you assigned a long term mission that allowed Ayame to become a ninja once again," stated Naruto placing all of the pieces together.

"Since her father owned the stall and she too was learning to cook under his tutelage, it would be the perfect cover," said Sarutobi breathing deeply. "Ayame got to live her dream of being a ninja while we gathered the information we were after."

"All for the villagers' safety," said Naruto feeling disheartened. "How often did you spy on me Ayame?"

"She does not need to answer that," stated Sarutobi but the young woman held up her hand in defence.

"I watched you three times a week minimum plus whenever you came to the store," answered Ayame as she struggled to maintain eye contact with the person whose heart she felt as if she had stepped on. "I would make my reports on either a weekly or fortnightly basis depending on whether or not the information I had gathered was urgent."

"So my life is displayed in all of these reports," said Naruto as he pulled out the piece of paper that Jiraiya had given him the other day.

"Where did you get your hands on that?" asked Sarutobi, wondering how one of the files had managed to wind up in Naruto's hands.

"By someone who believes that his family's personal life does not need to be on display," answered Naruto to which caused a confused look to spread across Ayame's face, the young girl unaware that Naruto had any family. Sarutobi sighed however as he realised that his former pupil had decided that Naruto was more important than what the village had chosen. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't feel anger towards the toad hermit for choosing what was clearly important to him.

"I must ask Naruto, even with that information there was no mention of Ayame's name within any of the reports, how did you deduce that it was her?"

"Having discovered I was being tailed I became a lot more alert about everybody around me," explained Naruto with a bit of venom in his voice, clearly showing his dislike of the idea that he needed to be tailed having never shown any signs of abandoning the village. "I encountered Dove last night and noted a couple of things in the battle that ensued. She utilised a pepper bomb after I broke through her defence I identified they were female and earlier on I had torn off a piece of her clothing which an Inuzuka explained to me smelled of ramen. Finally Teuchi told me that Ayame had suffered a busted rib the night that I had encountered Dove and that was all the evidence I needed."

"Even after years off of service you are able to come up with the correct conclusion with minimal effort it seems," said Sarutobi trying to hide the impressiveness he now felt.

"Thank you for your words Hokage," said Naruto, the title once again biting into Sarutobi's heart. "Now if you don't mind, I believe that I need to go away for a while."

"Where do you intend to go Naruto?" asked Ayame.

"Somewhere nobody will be able to find me," said Naruto as he turned towards the door.

"Do you want me to hire some ninja to look after your store while you are gone?" asked Sarutobi as if trying to begin making amends with the young boy.

"You could burn it down for all I care," said Naruto, his tone indicating that he wasn't joking about the manner as he opened the door. "After all, you've destroyed my trust so you might as well destroy everything else I hold precious as well." With a vicious slam, Naruto shut the door with enough force to nearly tear the wooden board off of its hinges. The third Hokage released a breath that he didn't know he had been holding. While the conversation had been how he had predicted, he was thankful that Naruto had managed to keep his emotions in check in such an emotionally painful situation.

"I'm sorry for dragging you through this," said Sarutobi turning his attention towards Ayame.

"I should go after him and explain..."

"No, I am aware of the financial situation you and your father were in before Naruto became the apprentice," said the Hokage. "I was also aware of the negative repercussions which would likely occur with Naruto being there. In a matter of months I witnessed one of the most popular vending stalls being reduced to barely a handful of people all because people became frightened. In order to keep the store open, this job was crucial for both you and your father."

"I just don't understand why people can't see him for who he is," said Ayame as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"People are scared of what they don't understand," explained Sarutobi as simply as it could. "Since you took on the mission, not only were you able to rectify the financial situation which had come about in your family's business but through it you were able to give Naruto a new purpose in life."

"That doesn't make it feel any better," said Ayame as she wiped away at the tears.

"For now head back home and tell your father to see me as soon as possible, I'll explain to him everything that's happened," said Sarutobi. "For what it's worth, thank you for the mission you have undertaken."

"I don't think any amount of thanks is going to heal my heart," said Ayame softly as she moved towards the door. Sarutobi sighed as he looked out of the window at the sun shining across the village he protected, the perfect weather contradicting how he felt. He could see his reflection in the window and believed that he had aged at least another five years since he had last looked at himself in a mirror, or at least that was how he felt. He only prayed that Naruto's hatred solidified around Sarutobi himself rather than the village as a whole because deep down he knew that if anybody was responsible for what had occurred, it was him.

...

"You're entering us in the Chūnin exams!" exclaimed the three Genin as Kakashi smiled at them from behind his mask.

"I believe you three have the capabilities to not only enter, but graduate as well," said Kakashi as he led his team towards the familiar ramen stand.

"You're not just doing this to make sure that you no longer have any Genin to look after right?" asked Sakura, trying to look beneath what Kakashi was saying.

"I'll let you decide whether or not you are ready, but no that if one of you three decide to not take the exam, the other two members of your teams place is immediately forfeit," explained Kakashi which caused Sakura's eyes to widen slightly as she swallowed nervously. While Kiba and Sasuke were looking at one another with an air of confidence surrounding them, Sakura felt herself contemplating on the situation, whether or not she was ready to tackle such a challenge. When they got to the ramen stand she would be sure to ask Naruto his opinion on the matter and if at all possible get him to help prepare her for such a thing.

Akamaru barked happily, recognising a smell nearby as he turned his head up the main street just before the ninja walked through the all too familiar passageway. "What is it boy?" asked Kiba as he followed his puppy's line of sight to see Naruto walking towards him. Kiba was about to shout out when Kakashi placed his hand on the Inuzuka's shoulder as he noticed something seemed to be out of the ordinary with his former apprentice. Akamaru took no time leaping to the ground however as he bound towards Naruto only to freeze halfway between Kiba and the blonde walking towards them. "Akamaru?" said Kiba unsure what had gotten into the dog as the puppy began to walk backwards before running back to where the three genin stood, leaping into Sakura's arms as if for protection. Slightly shocked at the small puppy within her arms, Sakura scratched at the back of Akamaru's ears yet it did little to stop the shaking that was caused by fear.

"You three, head to the stall, I'll meet you there," instructed Kakashi in a commanding tone, the three genin immediately obeying his command. Once they were out of sight, Kakashi made a move to head towards Naruto when he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning around to see Jiraiya standing behind him.

"If you want answers, take them up with the Hokage," said Jiraiya, knowing that from the look on the boys face as he walked by, not even tossing a glance in the direction the two shinobi stood, that the confrontation between Naruto and Sarutobi had just occurred. "I'm heading there now for the same information you're after and I recommend giving Naruto time to cool his head."

"What happened?" asked Kakashi.

"You'll find out shortly," said Jiraiya as he moved towards the Hokage Tower with Kakashi in tow, the white haired Jonin looking over his shoulder at Naruto who seemed to be proceeding towards the gates to the village.

...

Tenten walked with a bit of a spring in her step towards her favourite food vendor, baring the good news that Gai-sensei had deemed her, Lee and Neji ready to tackle the Chūnin exams within a week. Not only did she feel confident with her abilities, but she was ready to show the elemental nations just what she was capable of. "Yo," she shouted with a wave as she came close to where the nearest clone stood behind the counter.

"Ah," said the clone looking at the brown haired girl as it picked up the bowl of ramen that was already waiting for her. "Here you go Ten..."

The clone never got to finish his sentence as the ramen bowl hit the counter with enough force to shatter, spilling the contents all over the wooden bench and the ground. The sound of a pot hitting the ground out back along with the smashing bowl alerted all of the ninja in the vicinity as they witnessed all of the Naruto clones explode in a puff of white smoke, leaving the other side of the counter completely void of life.

"Na-Naruto," said Tenten in disbelief as for the first time since Gai sensei had brought her here she found herself starring at an empty bar.

...

Naruto walked through the gates that had confined him for a vast majority of his without slowing down at all. In the back of his mind he recalled the first time he had walked through the large gates on his first C ranked mission with Kakashi. Then it had been an opening towards an unexplored world. Now though it was a prison that held those who thought less of him. Gripping the sides of his head, he struggled to know what it was that he should have been thinking at the moment. Part of him felt anger and hatred towards the entire lie that the council had forced Ayame to live over the past few years while another rational part told him that it was a necessity. Despite that, no matter what way he tried to swing the argument the one person who had supported him his entire life appeared in his mind.

Sarutobi, the third Hokage, the man who Naruto had looked up to as a grandfatherly figure for so long, the image of the kind elderly man had shattered in Naruto's mind. That, was what hurt the boy so much right now.

"Watch it kid," said a voice as Naruto bumped shoulders with a teenager a couple years older than him. Lifting his head slightly, Naruto observed both the war paint on the man's face along with the protective headband baring the symbol of Suna upon it.

"Ease up Kankuro," said a female voice nearby causing Naruto to twist his head ever so slightly to see a blonde haired girl older than the boy in front of him with her hands on her waist.

"No, first I want to hear this brat apologize," said Kankuro gripping Naruto by the scruff of the shirt, pulling the blonde closer to his face. "C'mon, let me hear you say that you're sorry for bumping me when there's so much more road that you could have been walking on."

"Couldn't you see that the kid was deep in thought?" asked the woman as she rubbed her forehead with her thumb and forefinger. "If you cause an incident when the gates of Konoha are literally within view I won't be held responsible."

"Don't worry Temari, I'm just going to teach this kid to watch where he's going," said Kankuro as he smirked at Naruto.

"Kankuro," said Naruto slowly, a menacing tone clearly residing within his words, "Think about so much as touching me and there won't be enough for Suna to recognise you." Kankuro took a step back before his male pride got the better of him and he lifted his spare hand to strike the blonde boy he held by the throat. That was when Naruto's head lifted slowly upwards, red eyes glaring at the teenager who held him as a vicious aura radiated about his body. Had Kankuro not have received the warning earlier, his bladder may have failed him as he swallowed nervously, releasing his grip on Naruto. "Wise choice," said Naruto as he turned away from the Suna shinobi and continued on his path down the centre of the road.

"What-what was that?" asked Temari, shaking slightly.

"I've only ever felt that way around...Gaara!" Kankuro exclaimed the last word as he realised that at some stage the younger brother had found his way in-between where the two siblings stood. Yet unlike the usual menacing look that Gaara had about him, the boy's eyes were wide with what looked like fear.

"Gaara, what's wrong?" asked Temari playing her role as the older sister.

"Mother...mother is scared."

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**First Australian WWE Champion: Be happy that you've found the story now Thorn.**

**dksamuri: Only Tenten knows what happened that night, she isn't going to be revealing some of her blackmail material that easily.**

**Ssjgokillo: Thank you for stating that even though my characters are different from canon that they are still recognisable, that is always one of the key elements I have to keep thinking about in the back of my mind.**

**Peace out.**


	25. Starts with a Smoke

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

For nearly a month, what was once one of the busiest sectors in Konoha remained isolated. The walls of the ramen shack were soon vandalised by graffiti artists and immature men who smashed the windows and tore a number of the tiles off of the roof. When the shack had first opened and the first vandals struck, Naruto had tracked them down several days later and made them clean up the mess themselves, yet now it looked like the job would be impossible for a single person. Yet as a blonde haired teenager looked upon what was his pride and joy, he pondered on the reasons of why he had returned. His image hidden under a robe, only those who knew the boy like the back of their hand would recognise him as the small child who used to run around screaming about how he would one day become the Hokage. One such man who recognised him immediately now stood by his side, his gaze also monitoring what had become of his pupil's store. "Somehow I didn't think I'd be seeing you around anytime soon after I heard what had happened from Sarutobi," said Jiraiya as he sighed, recalling the information that his sensei had passed on to him.

"Don't think I've come back because I'm going to make amends with the Hokage," snapped Naruto.

"I'd be surprised if you had," replied Jiraiya.

"I ran into your teammate and they gave me some advice," said Naruto with a shrug of the shoulders.

"The same way you gave her advice all those years ago and helped her get over her fear of blood," said Jiraiya.

"Something like that. My hatred for what the Hokage did isn't going to simply vanish. If he wants my respect back he's going to have to earn it the old fashioned way."

"So you came back to give the old man a chance," summarised Jiraiya.

"Not really, I kind of ran out of money on the road after about a week before I camped with Tsunade and Shizune for a few days before making my way back here," said Naruto. "I kind of took the long road though and Tsunade stole all of my cash to pay off some gambling debt of hers."

"Ha, she hasn't lost a beat," said Jiraiya with a laugh.

"Anyways, I could just live off the land for a few months but I was sick of the way my life was going for a little bit so decided to come back so I could grab some cash before heading out again, might go have a bit of an adventure, go see the toads again. I wonder if they remember me?"

"I'm sure 'Ma' will cook you up something nice when you get there."

"On second thought," said Naruto as he clutched at his stomach, memories flooding back upon the last time he had sampled the elderly toad's cooking, "I think I'll just jump from town to town for a while."

"You sure that's wise," said Jiraiya, still not making eye contact with the blonde. "Remember who's out there looking for you." How could Naruto not remember, it was those men who had made him quit being a shinobi in the first place. "You won't get as lucky as last time."

"You say being the only one to survive out of an eight man squad luck," said Naruto solemnly, more memories flooding back but these were of the darkened past he kept hidden away. "I call it a burden."

"Well at least you're not like Kakashi who spends most of his days standing in front of the memorial stone. Anyways I'd recommend hanging around town for a week so you can watch the end of the Chūnin exams. That small fry you got me to promote and her sister have both made it through to the finals."

"Seriously!" said Naruto a bit of excitement filling his eyes. Jiraiya reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper which he promptly handed to the blonde who opened it to find the entire roster on who was scheduled to fight. "Let's see here who made it through, Sasuke did but Sakura and Kiba didn't manage to get through, all of Kurenai's team did which is impressive, then Shikamaru made it through and finally Neji rounds up all those from Konoha...wait that can't be right, what about Lee?" asked turning his head towards Jiraiya.

"Guy's pupil is in hospital, the Jinchuriki from Suna put him there," explained Jiraiya.

"Suna sent a Jinchuriki!" exclaimed Naruto before calming down a bit. "So how bad are Lee's injuries?"

"By the sounds of it, he'll likely never be a ninja again," said Jiraiya making Naruto's eyes go wide with shock. The first time he had met the green clad genin he had been told of how Lee had aspired to be an excellent ninja despite not being able to utilise chakra. To have his dreams crushed in such a way, Naruto could only imagine what both Lee and his mentor felt now. "If Tsunade came back he might have a chance but there's no way of knowing for sure."

"Well she may be coming around sooner than you think," said Naruto which caused Jiraiya to give him an inquisitive look. "I told her that a gambling den had been created."

Jiraiya couldn't remember the last time he had laughed so loudly.

...

Sitting within the confines of his place, Naruto was aware that he needed to stay hidden for the time being, not particularly wanting to draw any attention to himself as of the moment. He knew that it was likely that the Hokage may know of his presence within the village yet with the amount of people coming in to town because of the exams there was a number of people coming in to town and as such there was a chance he'd gotten in unnoticed. When he'd entered the village he'd come in under the guise of a Henge but that didn't mean he wouldn't be noticed eventually. For now he just needed to remain on the down low, simply staying out of sight.

Or at least that was how it had been after the first two days cooped up within his apartment. "I'm so freaking bored!" he shouted to nobody in particular, his words bouncing off the walls meaninglessly. When he'd been travelling along the road at least he was constantly moving and keeping his mind occupied on the path ahead. For the entirety of the previous day he had cleaned up his place in its entirety, not bothering to make clones to help him so that it would take a longer time than usual. Only now was he starting to realise how much his ramen stand had kept him sane. Looking out the window, he watched as the sun began to set in the distance, a beautiful orange glow illuminating the village as a smile crossed his face. Who said that he couldn't have a bit of fun while waiting for the exams?

Getting to his feet, he walked over to a nearby drawer and opened it, revealing the contents within. When he was starting out as an apprentice to Kakashi, being able to hold a Henge for an extended period of time always proved to be difficult since his chakra control at the time had been poor. As such, he had to find a different way to be able to sneak around without being noticed. Looking at his equipment, Naruto was pleased to see that a large amount of it was still usable. A small smirk crossed his face as he set himself about to do his work.

...

"I can't believe Dosu got a special mission for tonight," complained Kin as she walked through the streets. Even after a number of weeks had passed, she still felt slightly infuriated that she had been bested by such a lazy Konoha genin during the exams. Not only that but Zaku hadn't felt like joining her for a night on the town and had left her by herself. It wasn't the first time however, even back over in their home village she found herself by her own more often than not.

Her eyes lifted however as she saw a young man standing by the corner of a nightclub caught her eye. He wore tight fitting black pants and had a lit cigarette between his teeth as he ran his fingers through his brown hair. He was young though, and somehow he had managed to get his hands on some smokes despite not looking like he was old enough for a civilian. Even so, she didn't see any sign of the boy being a ninja which allowed the thought of something interesting to happen tonight after all.

"Got another smoke?" she asked as she got close, the boy's eyes lifting up to meet hers.

"Interesting way to introduce yourself," said the disguised Naruto, his look completely revamped for the nightlife. Hopefully nobody he knew would recognise him as he was. There was an odd chance that Kakashi would pick up on it, having been the one to purchase him the equipment in the first place but he doubted that he would run into the silver haired Jonin tonight. Undoubtedly he imagined he was off somewhere ensuring that Sasuke was capable of making his way through the Chūnin exam finals in a few days time.

"A girl has needs you know," said Kin as she playfully took the cigarette from Naruto's mouth and took a drag from it herself. Naruto wasn't really bothered by the loss of nicotine, the smoke was of the weakest variety available in Konoha and he only really had one under a disguise when he wanted to draw attention away from himself. "You smoke some really weak stuff you know," said Kin instantly showing that she was aware of what she was smoking.

"It's just what I can get my hands on," said Naruto with a shrug of the shoulders. "I could get my hands on some better stuff, it's all about who you know in these parts."

"So you're a local I take it," said Kin as she handed the cigarette back to Naruto.

"A wanderer really, I just come and go as I please," said Naruto remembering the character he had created for this night. "Heard that the Chūnin exams were on so I thought I'd come by, I take it that's why you're here."

"Well I got eliminated but my teammate managed to make it through, I don't really want to be here to support him," admitted Kin.

"I take it you don't get along well with your teammates."

"I guess you could say that," said Kin with a shrug of the shoulders. "Well since neither you or me are in town that long, why don't we have a bit of a fun night?"

"You know what," said Naruto as he dropped the cigarette and stamped it out with the heel of his shoe, "I reckon you're absolutely right. Name's Uzuna."

"Kin," said the girl as she locked Naruto's arm with her own. "Since you've been here more often than me, is there anywhere we can sneak into?"

"Living a bit on the dangerous side aren't we," said Naruto with a cheeky smile.

"Well if this is anywhere like Oto, there's an area where shinobi are allowed to do things that civilians aren't," said Kin playfully. "Since you've been here more than me, maybe you know the area?"

"I reckon I know what you're talking about, but like you said it's ninja only," said Naruto feigning ignorance.

"Well that's where the sneaking comes in to play," said Kin licking her lips.

...

"Are you sure this is safe?" asked Naruto trying to feign worry as Kin tried to break her way into the back door of the nightclub. Having gone here a number of times, Naruto was aware that there weren't anybody watching the back door on a week night, the club opting to save money by having less security on every day apart from Friday and Saturday.

"Quiet Uzuna," said Kin as she tried to pry the lock with a pair of senbon. "This isn't as easy as it looks. There," she said in a celebratory tone as she cracked open the door successfully.

"You're great," said Naruto trying to make it out to be a large accomplishment. Kin however took this differently, having never been congratulated when accomplishing something. More often than not, even when she felt like she had done something well she was constantly told that she should have done it faster or that she was pathetic. Such a small compliment however caused a slight blush to grace her cheeks and she was thankful that there was little lighting in this back alley lest her company spot the redness.

"Come on, let's just go in already," said Kin in a rushed tone, gripping Naruto's hand and leading him through the backdoor, closing the wooden object behind her. As they made their way through the back corridor, Kin put her spare hand on her heart, feeling an unusual sensation come over her body. Inside, the club was filled with noise as the young, and the young at heart, danced to the beat of the music. Instantly Naruto recognised Ino who currently stood on top of the DJ booth, much to security's outrage as they desperately tried to get the female shinobi back on to the dance floor. A slight chuckle escaped Naruto's lips but he reigned it in quickly enough to make sure that Kin didn't see through his disguise. "Go to that table over there and I'll bring the drinks over," instructed Kin pointing to a vacant area in the corner. Naruto nodded as he obliged the instructions, weaving his way through the crowd trying to avoid anybody who could potentially recognise him.

"Watch it," said a familiar voice from nearby as Naruto bumped shoulders with Anko. Naruto swallowed nervously as he waved it off.

"My bad," he said as he made his way past, trying to ignore the venomous glare that Anko was giving him. He didn't get far however as Anko reached out and grabbed his forearm.

"Do I know you?" asked Anko in an intimidating tone.

"You must have me confused with somebody else, I only came in to town today," explained Naruto, praying that Anko didn't see through his disguise. For the longest of moments, Anko merely starred at him through glaring eyes before her mood took a complete hundred and eighty degree turn around.

"See you around then," said Anko playfully as she went to hunt down her target for the night, sending shivers down Naruto's spines as he finally found his place at the table. Roughly a minute later he was rejoined by Kin who took the seat next to him, four drinks in hand.

"You clearly didn't want to go up again anytime soon," teased Naruto as he relieved Kin of two of the drinks. Lifting one of them to his lips, he gagged slightly finding that not only had Kin brought back two drinks for each of them but had managed to get them all with double shots, making them very potent. "Clearly," repeated Naruto as he blinked a number of times. Kin stuck out her tongue playfully as she began drinking her booze with little repercussions.

For minutes they merely sat there, bantering between one another as their glasses became empty. As Naruto stared at the four empty glasses, he was well aware that they had gotten through them way too quickly to be considered safe but his rational decision was slowly fading away as he watched Kin get to her feet. "C'mon," she beckoned as she gripped Naruto's hand and dragged him off of his seat towards the dance floor. Just like that, Naruto found himself in a sea of bodies under a haze of flashing lights with alcohol circulating through his system.

Naruto felt Kin wrap her arms around his waist, keeping him close as he ran his fingers through her hair, tickling her behind the ear as he went past the limb. "Uzuna," she said softly, her voice barely carrying the distance between the two. Like Naruto, she could also feel the effect the drinks were having on her body. Her hands dropped slowly as she gave Naruto's ass a firm squeeze which caused Naruto's eyes widened slightly at the sudden grasp. This hadn't been the first time Kin had done something like this, yet it had been the first time she had made the move and not been disappointed in the reaction. Last time she had gone out drinking and she had grabbed a man's ass they had backhanded her without any remorse.

Once more, she found her heart racing as she pulled Naruto closer, able to feel his breath on her lips. She inched ever closer, loving the hot air that Naruto breathed upon her face. Yet it got no closer however as a nearby dancer bounced in to them, spilling his drink all over Kin sending cold shivers over her arms. "Bastard," she cursed as the moment was ruined for her, barely containing herself from knocking the drunk man off of his feet. She quickly excused herself and made her way to the bathroom to clean herself off as Naruto made his way back to the table, running his fingers through his hair. As he took his seat, he breathed heavily over what had nearly occurred. Sure he had kissed a girl before, but something of this magnitude seemed awkward considering the speed at which this was going. Meanwhile in the ladies bathroom, Kin was having similar feelings as she dried herself off with paper towel. Placing her hands on the basin, she looked at herself in the mirror.

She had never though herself much of a looker, rather preferring to so what the mission required of her instead of trying to impress somebody. Yet Uzuna didn't care that she wasn't as pretty as some other girls, and even though she had originally gone out tonight imagining that nothing would happen she could safely say she had been pleasantly surprised with the way things had turned out. Despite that, she was aware that the time wouldn't last since she would be returning home at the end of the exams. Was it inevitable that as soon as she found a scrap of happiness it would soon be taken away from her?

"You!" shouted an accusing voice from behind her, causing her to turn around quickly to find the pink haired girl she had tormented within the second test. Kin struggled to find her voice as she saw Sakura pointing at her, since their last encounter it seemed that the genin had gone and gotten her hair trimmed up properly so that it no longer looked so scrappy like it had when she had cut it herself. "What are you doing here?"

"Am I not allowed to enjoy myself?" asked Kin as she put her hand on her waist.

"That...that's not the point," said Sakura struggling to remember what point she had been trying to make. For several moments they looked at each other before Kin sighed, dropping her head slightly as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Can...can I ask you a favour?" asked Kin, knowing that if her teammates ever found out about what she was about to ask she would never hear the end of it.

"What makes you think that I want to help you?" asked Sakura suppressing her rage.

"Then put it in this perspective," said Kin trying to calm Sakura down. "In your next Chūnin exam, if you ran into somebody who you liked, but knew you would likely never see them again once you left, what would you do?"

Sakura took a step back as the question hit her, her mind quickly wandering to Naruto which in turn allowed a sense of sorrow to overcome her feelings. Nobody really knew where the blonde had run off to a month earlier but everybody was sad at what had happened. This got Sakura thinking about the question, if she had been aware that Naruto would have been leaving a week before he did, what would she have done? "I...I guess you'd make the most of the time you have together," said Sakura as rolled her forefingers around one another.

"Thanks," said Kin as she made her way out of the bathroom, intending on taking the girl's advice. Forcing her way through the crowd, she nearly stumbled over a pair of feet but paid it no mind as she found Naruto sitting where they had sat earlier. He lifted his head as Kin got close and as he opened his mouth to say something, Kin gripped him by the collar with both hands and pulled him against her, his lips crashing against her own. If Kin had looked out the window at that moment she would have witnessed the outcome of her teammate trying to lessen the number of combatants if the exam only to be annihilated under the light of the full moon but right now she couldn't care less, she was lost in Naruto's lips and that was all that mattered.

...

Kin awoke the next morning feeling better than she had in months. Next to her was her brown haired angel who had shown her such a wonderful night. "Uzuna," she said gently as she stroked his hair as he began to wake up. A smile graced her lips as Naruto sat up but it quickly switched to a confused expression as she noticed that the back of his head was blonde. Looking at both his pillow and her hand, she couldn't tell if she was still under the effects of the alcohol or if the colour of his hair had altered since the previous night. Naruto, looking at the brown hair colour stains that had run out during his sleep, could only mutter one thing.

"Oh shit."

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Now I know a lot of you were expecting a chapter where Naruto went off on a journey of self discovery. Instead I chose to do this, trying to keep this story as much on track as possible so that I don't run off on a tangent. Anyways...**

**For those thinking that Naruto will simply forgive the Hokage: Trust me, it's not going to happen that quickly.**

**Peace out.**


	26. Imprisoned

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

"Stupid shitty products," cursed Naruto as he tossed his old equipment into a bin, the dye's lid had had a hole in it, as such the product had become defective over many years of sitting in a dank drawer. Looking at himself in a nearby mirror, he was happy to have his natural hair colour back, the dye having run out instantly when it had come into contact with water.

"Will you untie me already so I can tear you a new one?" shouted Kin as she struggled against the binds that held her in place. Having quickly gotten his hands on some rope he had stored under the bed for emergency situations he had overpowered Kin and tied her to a wooden chair but wasn't cruel enough to gag her...yet.

"That's not really an incentive," said Naruto as he took a seat on the bed opposite to where Kin sat against her will. Her ankles were tied to the chair legs while her arms where behind securely bound behind both her back and the back of the chair.

"Well then untie me and I'll walk out that door and we'll go our separate ways," said Kin trying to sound as sincere as possible when the more likely outcome once she was free was to throttle the life out of him.

"Can't do that either," said Naruto with a sigh. "Before you ask, the reason is that I'm not even meant to be in town and I don't want anybody to know."

"Then leave," stated Kin as if it was the most obvious thing imaginable. "Just step out that door and walk through the village gates and we'll forget that this ever happened."

"Not going to risk it," said Naruto shaking his head. "Until the day of the exams neither you or me are leaving this house. Once the exams are over, I'll let you loose and you can go join up with your team and then you can choose whether or not this ever happened."

"I swear, if you don't let me out of here in the next ten seconds I'm going pin you so full of senbon that you'll look like a porcupine!" exclaimed Kin wiggling a bit.

"I don't like either of those options," said Naruto as he removed the protective forehead protector from the top of Kin's brow, turned it around so that the metal plate covered the back of her head and used the fabric as a gag to silence the girl. Tightening it slightly, he could hear the muffled rage trying desperately to leave Kin's mouth but he ignored it as he made his way to the kitchen. Rummaging through the cupboards, he knew that he would untie her eventually; he would just need to look through some of the seals that Jiraiya had shown him a while ago to find the perfect one for the situation. For now though he had to figure out a way to ration the food stock he had in order to last the next four days. Thankfully on his first day back, Jiraiya had been willing to do some shopping for him and then send it by toad so that he would be able to feed himself, feeding two off that limited amount though would be difficult. Good thing that he always kept a spare supply of noodles available for ramen locked away.

Meanwhile in the other room, Kin struggled against her binds with everything she could muster, yet for a measly kid the boy knew how to tie a good knot. She figured that either that this kid had either applied for ninja academy but had gotten rejected from a team or had been a boy scout when he was younger, she couldn't tell which at the moment. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus clearly on what had happened. Yet with a hangover lingering over her mind this was anything but simple.

An angry grunt was muffled but her frustration was still clear as her eyes analysed her surroundings, looking for anything that would give her an advantage in getting out of this mess. The longer she looked though, the more she slowly began to think that being cooped up in such a cramped living space wasn't too different from her life back in Oto. Sure she had the ability to move her legs, but the restrictions of freedom were practically the same but she knew if she played her cards right, she'd be out of here in no time. For now though she would have to be patient.

Ten minutes passed before Naruto walked towards her with a chair in one hand and a bowl of boiled veggies in the other. "You don't eat meat, right?" asked Naruto as he placed the chair opposite to where Kin sat, the Oto ninja giving him a confusing look as he took a seat. "Promise not to bite my fingers off," said the blonde as his fingers got close to Kin's mouth. With a reassuring nod, Naruto removed the cloth from her lips, the back of his hand gently caressing her cheek which sent a shiver down her back.

"How did you know that I'm a vegetarian?" asked Kin genuinely surprised, she couldn't recall mentioning anything on that level to Naruto the previous night.

"Call it a chef's intuition," said Naruto as he plucked up a piece of cauliflower and presented it to Kin who ate it with haste, greatly enjoying the taste in her mouth. Over the next few minutes they sat in silence as the blonde fed his companion, the windows sealed shut blocking anybody from looking in at the situation. Naruto both feared the Hokage finding out about him being back in town and Jiraiya discovering that he had a beautiful young woman tied up in his room.

"Thank you so much," said Kin as she licked her lips, the last of the food already down her throat. Quickly, she remembered the situation she was in and her face turned serious in an instant. "Don't think that that means you're on my good side."

"Didn't think so," replied Naruto with a smirk.

"So 'Uzuna,' why don't you tell me a little bit more about yourself?" asked Kin with a sly twisted grin.

"First off forget Uzuna, name's Naruto," introduced the blonde, realising that since he was going to be spending the better part of four days with Kin he might as well be open about it.

"So there's not some other identity hidden within you I should know about or are you truly Naruto?"

"Nobody you'd be interested in knowing," said Naruto with a smile that just screamed that there was more information hidden but he wouldn't be talking about it anytime soon. "I run my own restaurant a little down the road."

"You're a little young to be a chef, let alone run your own shop," stated Kin but she wasn't surprised considering she was old enough to be a trained killer.

"I finished my apprenticeship finished early last year," explained Naruto. "Had to make the income somehow and just set up my own shop."

"And your parents..." Kin didn't expect him to answer but when she saw a defeated look spread across his eyes, she knew that she had buried a kunai deep within his heart. Normally she would try and use this information to her advantage and thus escape her bonds, but the sorrow in Naruto's eyes was something that reflected what she saw every morning in the mirror. In that instant she was able to see that, like herself, Naruto had grown up without knowing the loving compassion of parents. Kin opted not to say anything more on the matter as Naruto got up from his chair and made his way to go clean the dishes. Kin merely watched for what seemed like hours on end as Naruto searched through hundreds of scrolls, desperately searching for something, a part of her secretly hoping that it was a delicious meal of some kind.

"You know, if you untied me and told me what you were looking for I'd be able to help you find it," said Kin trying to get the blonde to release her from her binds, the ropes around her wrists were really starting to irritate her skin.

"Good try, but no," said Naruto not taking his eyes away from the paper he was scanning. "I guess this could work." Kin wasn't sure whether to feel worried or not as Naruto leapt to his feet like a child on their birthday full of excitement as he rummaged through some old draws before finding a brush and some ink.

"Please don't tell me you're going to draw me in this position!" exclaimed Kin worried about what could come of such a thing.

"What kind of sick pervert do you think I am?" asked Naruto in response. Holding the scroll in one hand, he made his way to the wall closest to Kin and using a nearby pin, stuck it to the wooden structure. He walked back, allowing Kin to look at what was written on the scroll and her eyes slowly went wide as she saw something that only a few people in the world would be able to understand, herself not included.

A seal.

"You're a shinobi?" asked Kin as Naruto returned with his ink and brush. Suddenly the reason why it was so difficult to get out of the bind she was currently in made a lot more sense.

"Was," stated Naruto as he began his work, copying the intricate seal onto his wall bit by bit. Kin watched in amazement as this boy younger than herself, executed one of the most difficult styles of ninja techniques imaginable. She was aware that the most basic seals came in scrolls and on explosive tags, but even those took hours to create by somebody who constructed them for a living. Yet here was this boy, writing along the wall at a pace and with such confidence that she couldn't even begin to fathom. A single wrong stroke on an explosive tag could cause the thing to explode immediately, who knew what could happen if Naruto were to lose his concentration.

It took only minutes but Kin swore she had just witnessed one of the greatest spectacles of her young life. The entire bedroom surrounding her was covered by black ink, not only that but the bathroom that was connected had also been marked by the brush. The only spots that weren't marked by Naruto was the window and the passageway connecting the bedroom to the kitchen and thus the front door. "And that's that," said Naruto proudly as he placed the brush within the ink pot before he wiped a bead of sweat off his brow.

"Impressive, but what does it do?" asked Kin as she pondered why the blonde had done such a thing in the first place.

"Hold up a second, it's a two part seal," explained Naruto as he took the scroll from off the wall and laid it on the bed before grabbing his ink brush once again.

"Wait, you're going to put a seal on me!" exclaimed Kin, worrying about the consequences.

"And if you don't want anything to go horribly wrong, you'll stay still while I do it," warned Naruto as Kin felt the cold ink strike against her forearm. The movements were slow, clearly Naruto was taking great care with what he was doing but that didn't particularly mean that she was not worried about her safety. After nearly a minute, one arm had been branded with ink and before Kin could breathe a sigh of relief he started on her other arm. For the longest of moments it felt as if her heart had stopped, as if the expansion of her lungs from breathing could disrupt the process. She felt the brush leave her skin and she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding as Naruto placed a single kunai on the ground and began to inscribe what she assumed to be the same seal on her arms to the piece of metal. Once completed, Naruto inhaled deeply as he prepared for the final part of the technique.

"Fuuinjutsu: Seichuu Raikou Kangoku," shouted Naruto as he formed the necessary seals before slamming his hand on the floor. The effect was instant as all the seals written along the wall shone brightly if only for a few seconds before vanishing. Light had also emitted from the kunai on the ground and Kin could only assume that her forearms had also shone brightly.

"What the hell was that?" asked Kin as she blinked a couple of times, trying to clear her eyes after the sudden flash.

"Restricted Lightning Prison sealing technique," explained Naruto as he picked up the kunai. With three simple slashes, the ropes tying Kin's ankles and wrists were severed. For a brief moment, she thought about running as fast as she could in order to escape the house but knew that there would be some reason why Naruto believed that now was the perfect time to set her loose, especially with everything that he had explained before he fed her. "As you can see," continued Naruto, "The walls of the bedroom and bathroom have been lined with this seal. Should you try to escape from these seals, you're not going to like it."

"What'll happen?" asked Kin as she got to her feet.

"Find out for yourself," said Naruto offering her the kunai. Kin blinked a couple of times; wondering whether or not the blonde underestimated her skills as a shinobi yet after witnessing what had just occurred, she wasn't willing to take on anybody with the level of skill to create such a complicated seal so quickly. Swallowing nervously, she took the kunai out of Naruto's hand and tossed in towards the hallway, not with all her strength but enough so that she could clearly see the flight of the metal.

As soon as the kunai came in line with the seal, ravenous bolts of lightning leapt out of the seal and struck the kunai a number of times before it got out of range. Being made of metal, the kunai merely absorbed the lightning strikes before landing within one of the kitchen walls with a solid thunk. "Understand?" asked Naruto to which he received a series of nods from Kin, the black haired girl realising that if she didn't want to get struck by lightning she would have to stay within the confines of the seal. "At least this way you aren't constantly tied up with rope," said Naruto trying to cheer up his company. It had little effect.

...

Moonlight dribbled through the crack in the curtains as Kin tried to get to sleep, huddled underneath the thick blankets for warmth. Naruto had been the gentleman and had slept on the couch, although that was more because he didn't want to sleep with Kin in the main bed at the moment because he was worried she would find some way to kill him in his sleep.

Despite being locked within the confines of an area smaller than a hotel room, Kin was actually pleased with the luxuries she was being presented considering she was technically the blonde's prisoner. He had made her some dinner and brought a couple of books some girl called 'Tenten' had left here some time ago for her to read. While she hadn't been interested in the books, it was still nice to know that the blonde was being hospitable.

Twisting and turning, she looked out the window at the moon hanging in the sky. A part of her wondered whether or not her teammates actually cared that she had been missing for the entire day yet with a bitter taste in her mouth she remembered that this was her teammates she was referring to. Forcing her eyes shut, she reminded herself that for the next few days she would be restricted to the company of the blonde with no idea what was going on outside of her temporary prison. For some reason though, that didn't particularly sound like such a bad thing.

At dinner, she had confronted him about the shinobi thing again but he merely made his escape without an answer by stepping into the hallway and out of her reach, surprisingly acting his age as he goaded her in to even attempting to cross the line. After watching him do his thing earlier, to see the blonde display such a childish side had almost had her in a fit of laughter.

Pushing herself out of bed, she slammed her face into her palms, rubbing her eyes as she tried to clear her thoughts. Getting to her feet and walking over to the wardrobe, she opened it slightly to see if she could find anything to entertain herself somewhat. For a teenage boy it was clear that he didn't have much time to himself, the bottom of the wardrobe containing a number of pairs of shoes, most of which were of female brands. Even though he had been wearing a disguise the previous night, Kin couldn't imagine Naruto crossdressing and thus assumed that the blonde enjoyed the company of young women from time to time.

Yet what caught her eye the most was when she saw a shoebox pushed to the far back, dust covering the object like skin over a body. With steady hands, she reached down and picked it up; giving a soft blow she managed to clear a good portion of the box but that didn't make it look any prettier. Fingerprints had pressed into the sides of the box so many times that it had indented ever so slightly while the original paint had peeled off on a number of sections. Taking a quick look down the hallway to ensure that Naruto wasn't coming in to check on her, Kin opened up the box, curiosity getting the better of her.

She had expected money or some form of blackmail material she could use against the blonde. Instead however, she had found herself staring at an old ninja headband, the symbol of Konoha etched into the metal plate. She had to stop herself from retching as the smell of stale blood hit her nose, the once silver plate now having red droplets splashed over the entire thing. Closing up the lid of the box, Kin looked down the hallway once again, this time though wondering what secrets Naruto was hiding.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Brian Stetzel: Hanabi's match in the Chūnin exams is going to be a good one. With Naruto out of the competition, she is paired against...Neji.**

**Meck Viking: Yea, I figured it was about time to start leaking information about his past out.**

**Kakarot Son: Face it, you have no idea what I'm planning.**

**Dirac Blade: You are right in that Sarutobi doesn't necessarily need to apologize because he did what was right for the village, but that doesn't mean that Naruto doesn't believe that he deserves an apology.**

**Yes, I know this chapter's more filler than anything else, but I wanted to create a proper basis for relationship between Naruto and Kin, hence this. **

**Anyways, peace out.**


	27. Sandy Relationship

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

With the Chūnin exams the following day, the streets of Konoha were packed with representatives of different nations and not to mention the number of tourists who had travelled far and wide for the event. On the outskirts however, a number of people participated in individual training before they showed off their skills to their audience. In the courtyard of the Hyūga compound, Neji trained against the wooden dummy with ferocity, his strikes precise and direct. Despite having drawn the number that forced him to contest to his younger cousin, he had no intention of going easy on her. He was aware of the skill level Hanabi possessed, but as of late she had been nearly impossible to find, having gone off to some training ground to be the apprentice of a mystery sensei.

This gave him little concern however, planning to merely knock her out as quickly as possible and proceed on to the next round without revealing much of his technique to the other competitors. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Hinata burning an incense stick, a small trail of smoke gliding past her face. The previous night a messenger shinobi had arrived baring the news that Hinata's opponent had been found dead and Hinata had taken a break from her training regime in order to mourn his death. Over the last month of training, Hinata had been looking forward to combating against her opponent and even though she didn't know him personally she still felt a minor connection to him and believed that she should mourn him. She knew though that she couldn't spend too much time in such a state, even though she didn't have a fight for the first round, that didn't mean that she had much time to spare. She realised that she would have somewhat of an advantage going in to the second round but that didn't mean she could slack off. Opening her eyes, she got to her feet as she prepared to do a final burst of solid training with the midday sun hung high in the sky.

Meanwhile in a far off training ground, Hinata's younger sister felt the sweat drip from her forehead as she counted the number of push-ups in her head as Gai mimicked her pace by Hanabi's side. Beneath Hanabi's chest, several kunai protruded from the ground, ensuring that Hanabi would keep going until her target amount was reached. When Naruto had vanished, the reasons for so were still unknown, she had to look in a wide variety of places for a replacement tutor. Part of her wanted to get her father to teach her, but knew with Neji being her first opponent that combating somebody who was much more skilled than her with the family techniques could be seen as running into a brick wall. Thus she sought Gai-sensei; having known that Gai was Neji's teacher also gave her the advantage of siphoning all of her cousin's strengths and weaknesses from the spandex clad man. Sadly, Gai was unwilling to let any information about the Hyūga prodigy leak, yet he was able to see the "Fires of Youth" in Hanabi's eyes and was determined to get her prepared for the exams. As she lowered her arms for the four hundredth time, her eyes lifted with the knowledge that she had reached her target, yet before Gai could congratulate she pushed herself back up, determined to push herself to the absolute limit. For the green beast of Konoha, a silent tear of joy rolled from his left eye as he felt so much pride in having taken Hanabi under his wing.

At the bar of the Lucky Shuriken, Ino laughed boisterously as Sakura sat on the other side of the bar. With Sasuke having gone off on a training journey with Kakashi, Ino had been named day shift supervising manager, which considering the casino was relatively empty during the day left the blonde relatively bored. Having discovered this, Sakura had been coming in every couple of days to entertain her friend. While their former relationship still caused unease every so often it was rare now and they often joked about the topic having learnt from it. There were no uncomfortable silences as the two had managed to successfully renew their friendship. A pause did come between them however as they turned their heads to the sound of somebody entering the small gambling den. An inquisitive appearance came over the two genin as they looked at the blonde woman being followed by a younger woman carrying a pig.

...

"So where are you off to?" asked Kin as she observed Naruto disguise himself under the form of a henge. Despite having been trapped within the small living space for the last three days, the sound genin had managed to get used to the life style and was slightly disappointed that after the festivities tomorrow she would be leaving.

"My friend's in the hospital," explained the henged Naruto. "Since I know how bad the food is there, I'm just going to go take him some lunch and be gone. I'll be back soon."

"You sure this is wise on your part, leaving an enemy shinobi in your house, I could plant any number of hidden traps while you're gone," warned Kin.

"No you won't," stated Naruto. "You're not that kind of person."

Kin had to double back at the smile that Naruto sent her way as she felt her heart race slightly before she composed herself. "Go on then," she said as she shooed him out of her little restricted area playfully.

"Fine, fine," said Naruto as he turned his back to Kin, walking down the small hallway as he gave a brief wave over his shoulder. On his way through the kitchen he picked up a small plastic bowl of ramen he had made earlier, the seals on the side of the containing ensuring that the heat never dropped. As he left, Kin collapsed on the bed, spreading her arms out wide as the afternoon glow through the window caused a sleep induced state to enter her mind. Nuzzling up against the pillow, she figured now was as good a time as any to get an afternoon nap in.

With the sun glaring down at him, Naruto walked through the streets of town certain that he would go unrecognised. With this many people lining the walkways he would merely be one of the crowd, it also helped that he had hid his distinguishable blonde hair and whiskers with a basic henge. It didn't take him that long to get inside the hospital although immediately hated the sterile smell that invaded his senses. As he made his way to the encounter, he asked where Lee was located and with the information in hand made his way to the designated room. Yet the closer he got, the more uneasiness he felt at the situation. Killing intent radiated through the air and he soon found himself in a sprint, the contents of the food package spilling across the floor.

Running in to the room, he unleashed as much killing intent as he could at the target beforehand, just as Gaara had been preparing to slam his fingers shut. "So much as think about that and I will make your life a living hell!" exclaimed Naruto as he dispelled the henge, revealing who he was.

""You're that guy..." muttered Gaara as fear slowly crept into his being.

"I don't know if we've met, but that won't stop me from kicking your ass if you don't get your sand away from Lee," threatened Naruto as he noticed the bind that Lee was currently in, his quick mind figuring out what was going on in an instant. Gaara seemed to double back at the situation, never having been in a threatened situation like this before. A bead of sweat rolled down his brow across the sand that covered his face, quickly being absorbed by the dry grains. For possibly the first time, he withdrew his sand without fresh blood having been spilt. "Now get out of here, you're going to tell me everything."

Gaara felt slightly relieved that the killing intent being directed at him had been reduced yet didn't like the orders being thrown his way; being given orders from somebody who wasn't his father left a bad taste in his mouth. The walk down the white hallway was a silent one until Gaara was the first to speak. "Why do you protect him?"

"It's what friends do," explained Naruto.

"I wouldn't know, I don't have any friends," stated Gaara. "People fear me; I know no other emotion that others perceive around me."

"I wasn't feared growing up; I was hated for something out of my control. Social isolation rendered me to a crying heap most nights as parents told their children to stay away from me."

"Why not strike them?" asked Gaara. "Mother tells me that you have strength that should not be messed with, that tackling you would be a grave mistake."

"Strength shouldn't be used for such petty things, strength should only be used for what is most important to you," explained Naruto.

"The most important thing to me is proving my existence," stated Gaara coldly as the doors to the hospital slid open, allowing the two Jinchuriki access to the world outside the hospital.

"That's what you believe is most important, yet look inside your heart and do a bit of soul searching," said Naruto as somebody appeared before them.

"Gaara, we've been looking everywhere for you," proclaimed Temari as she stood in front of the two teenagers. She was scared as to the possibilities which may have happened if he had been left unattended any longer. Yet when she saw the person that he had been conversing with, a slight shudder ran down her spine as she recalled having seen this person frighten both her brothers over a month earlier.

"Who would this be Gaara?" asked Naruto to the red haired boy, having just discovered his name.

"My sister, Temari," stated Gaara.

"Well surely she must be important to you deep down, let's make that a starting point," said Naruto before leaping away in a single bound, leaving the two sand siblings standing in front of the hospital.

"Gaara..." started Temari, not quite sure what to make of the lack of killing intent radiating around her brother.

"Shall we head back," suggested Gaara as he began walking, Temari close behind struggling to believe that her life had just remained unthreatened. Her eyes flickered into the distance where she saw the shadow of the blonde haired boy bounce off into the distance and wondered what effect he had had on Gaara.

...

"Hanabi, you look exhausted," noted Hiashi as he looked at the state of his youngest daughter. Her family robes had lost nearly their entire white colour, replaced with dirt and grime. "Those clothes will need to be washed."

"Yes father," said Hanabi obediently as she walked through the front door.

"I will have a member of the branch family help you wash your back, I can smell the sweat on you from where I am standing," stated Hiashi. "I trust you have been doing extensive training for tomorrow's competition."

"Indeed," said Hanabi. "I look forward to testing my strength against Neji's."

"I look forward to seeing how well you have progressed with your Gentle Fist against somebody of your cousin's calibre. Be sure to get a good meal in before you go to bed, lack of strength should be the least of your worries in the morning."

"Understood father, I shall see you in the morning," said Hanabi dismissing herself. Walking down the hallway with the last glow of the afternoon sun glistening through the window, she knew that she had done the best she could have in the time given in order to prepare herself for the tasks ahead. Turning the corner, she found herself looking at the meditating form of Neji, the Hyūga prodigy seemingly oblivious to her presence. Without hesitation, she continued at her speed until she stood directly behind him.

"Let it be known Hanabi, that I shall be victorious tomorrow," said Neji, his eyes remaining closed.

"You don't know that," said Hanabi having stopped in place.

"You're right, I don't but that will not sway me in my task of reaching Chūnin," said Neji. "The only thing we know, is that tomorrow we shall give the crowd a spectacle to behold of the strength of the Hyūga."

"I look forward to it," said Hanabi, a smile gracing her lips as she stepped forward again, intent on getting herself cleaned up.

...

A solid knock on the door caused Naruto to awake in a groggy state. Rolling slightly, he found his face making contact with the floor as he managed to roll off of the couch. Slapping one hand to the ground, he managed to push himself to his hands and knees, looking over his shoulder towards the bedroom where Kin still slept quietly, despite the sudden bursts of noise. Another knock bounced off the door several times as Naruto found himself walking towards the wooden object. "What do you want?" he asked as he opened the door, temporarily forgetting that at that moment he wasn't even meant to be in the village. Yet he was in a state of luck as he found himself being looked at by somebody who didn't wear a headband of the leaf.

"Is this a bad time, I was wondering if we could talk?" asked Gaara.

"You know you've got a big tournament tomorrow Gaara, shouldn't you be getting some sleep?" asked Naruto as he rubbed his eyes, completely ignoring the fact that he was wearing his pyjamas.

"I don't sleep," stated Gaara as if it was the simplest thing of all.

"Alright then, since I have guests we'll talk on the roof," said Naruto as he stepped outside of his unit, closing the door behind him. It didn't take long for the two of them to ascend to the highest point of the building as they looked down upon the town around them.

"Mother warned me not to come see you tonight, but I disobeyed her," said Gaara.

"You keep talking about this mother of yours, who is she exactly?" asked Naruto.

"My mother is a monster, she makes me who I am," said Gaara solemnly. "I hear her voice in my head constantly, always there, forging who I am."

"So you're saying you're an insomniac, you hear voices and you come from Suna...you wouldn't happen to be the Jinchuriki would you?" asked Naruto which caused Gaara to look at him in shock.

"How did you know?"

"Comes with having had a spy as your teacher, I gathered information at a young age about all of the pros and cons the Jinchuriki have with their tailed beast. I assume you carry Shukaku, the one tailed beast correct?"

"That is what others call mother," said Gaara slowly. "Why is it you know so much about people like me?"

"Because I'm one myself, Naruto Uzumaki, container of the Kyuubi," introduced the blonde.

"I now understand why mother is afraid of you," said Gaara.

"Trust me, Shukaku's just scared of the beast inside," said Naruto patting his stomach.

"You hold such power, yet you use it to protect others," stated Gaara, recalling what Naruto has told him earlier.

"It's what made me strong, the belief that I could be the greatest protector the village ever saw," said Naruto, his eyes gliding over towards the Hokage monument. "Having these Biju sealed inside us is a curse in itself, people are always going to treat us differently."

"You mean we are doomed to a life of hatred?" asked Gaara, hope slowly fading from his features.

"I know the Hachibi Jinchuriki is almost worshipped and the Nibi container is one of the Raikage's strongest warriors," said Naruto, recalling what he and Jiraiya had discovered many years earlier. "There is no set path for people like us, we are just given a disadvantage at the beginning and it is up to us to choose what path to go down from there."

There was a pause as Gaara allowed this information to be absorbed, looking at the moon high above the clouds. "Do you think it is ever too late to change the path you walk upon?" asked the sand shinobi.

"I understand where you're coming from, around the world there are seven other people who have the same dilemma as us," said Naruto, causing Gaara to turn his attention towards the blonde. "Know that you are never alone, that there are always people important to you and even if you can't see them, know that they always care about you. If you believe that you can take a step back and head down the right path then you haven't fallen too far."

"You've given me much to think about Naruto," said Gaara. "Perhaps our paths will cross again."

Before he could leave though, he felt Naruto's hand slap down on his shoulder, causing him to turn his head in confusion. "You said earlier that you didn't have any friends," said Naruto as he removed his hand and held it in front of his stomach. "Then consider me your first."

Gaara shook slightly, never having felt something like this before as a wave of happiness seemingly run through his thought processes. Clasping Naruto's hand with his own, he composed himself as they shook, confirming their friendship through the contact.

As Gaara leapt off in to the night, a smile graced Naruto's features as he believed that he had done something worthwhile. Heading downstairs, he knew now that he had another combatant to look forward to watching in the contest tomorrow.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**I know most of you were probably expecting more filler of the days gone by, presumably with Naruto and Kin forming a stronger relationship but I felt that I needed to keep the story pushing forwards. Anyways...**

**Leaf Ranger: Ah yes, Tayuya, just wait to see what happens there.**

**Darnod: In all honesty, I can't really remember. I have a basic outline of where I want to take the story but the details swap and change as I write the chapters.**

**Hanabi's Biggest Fan: You changed your name!**

**I can't guarantee any immediate updates due to me having my final essays to write over the next couple of weeks, once they are finished I am done with university forever! (Provided I get a good enough score on the essays that is) Anyways, peace out.**


	28. The Games Begin

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Kin sat within the confines of Naruto's bedroom, reading a few magazines that the blonde had managed to get for her that morning. Outside she could hear the cheering of the crowds as they walked through the street towards where the final part of the Chūnin exams would be held. That mattered little to her however, whether or not her teammate made a decent viewing to the crowd wasn't her concern. Getting off of her seat she walked across and opened the window, allowing fresh air to seep through and remove the stagnant smell that had been enveloping the room for the last day or two.

Running her fingers through her hair, Kin made her way to the bathroom as she slowly stripped of her clothes and picked up a towel. She didn't know why she closed the bathroom door as she entered the white room, more of a force of habit than anything. She had no doubt that Naruto wasn't the kind of person to peep on her while she had a shower but that didn't change the fact that she felt more secure with the door enclosed.

As the towel dropped to the floor she looked at herself in the mirror. Or more importantly she looked at the reflection of the two seals which had been on her skin long enough she could almost consider them to be a tattoo. On the first day when she had used the shower she had tried her best to scrub off the ink with every piece of body cleansing equipment she could find but none of it had worked. Now though, she didn't look at the seals as a symbol to the fact that she was a prisoner, but more towards the friendship she had with Naruto.

Stepping into the small shower cubicle, Kin turned the nozzles and allowed the warm water to descend from the showerhead and land upon her body. As she stood there though, she knew that today would be the last day she would be staying within Naruto's house and she would be going back to Oto. After all this time with the blonde though and the hospitality he had shown, she couldn't help but wonder if she truly wanted to go back.

...

Hanabi stood in the centre of the arena along with the rest of the competitors, all of them lined up in a procession order as the crowd looked on and made bets as to who would walk away from the tournament as the winner. Standing in the centre of the ring was daunting and as her eyes fell upon her family sitting amongst the crowd she couldn't help but swallow nervously. Would she get their approval no matter how the fight with Neji went, or would they disapprove of any techniques she used that weren't clan related?

Underneath the arena Tenten looked at the odds on all the combatants for both their individual matches and the overall winner. Part of her wanted to put some ryu on her teammate who was one of the favourites to win the tournament along with Sasuke although as she looked at the brackets she could see that Neji and Sasuke would come to clash in only the second round if they both prevailed in their first match. Another part of her wanted to put money on Hinata, considering that the Hyūga heiress had a bye the first round considering that her opponent had been found dead nearly a week earlier. Opening up her wallet, she looked at the contents inside and weighed up whether or not it would be worth risking the little money she had. Since Guy had been in-between visiting Lee in the hospital and training somebody else in the ways of youth she hadn't had much of an income as of late. For a brief while she had considered working at Sasuke's little gambling den alongside Ino but those outfits made her shiver every time she saw them. She knew that it was perverse it was also successful in gaining customers and in turn income. Her pride as a shinobi would not allow her to be seen in such a way. Her wallet though said that she could possibly disguise herself with a Henge and work under a different alias. A cheeky grin crossed her face as she slipped through the crowd, a plan formulating in her head. For now though she would simply sit by and watch the tournament like everybody else.

...

"Hokage, it is time," said the Kazekage, urging the leader of the village to speak to the people. Sarutobi stood there momentarily as he recalled what he was there for. In all honesty his mind hadn't even been on the exams in front of him, but rather upon the young blonde that had fled the village a while ago. When word that Naruto had left got out there had been a ruckus about sending groups of ANBU after the boy under the pretence that he should be labelled a missing-nin due to the fact he had left the village, despite the fact he was no longer a ninja. It had been to the solid head on Shikaku's shoulders that the rest of the council was able to become calm, the head of the Nara clan being able to explain the situation in such a way that sending an ANBU team would be more troublesome than fortunate.

Earlier that day, Sarutobi had ventured to the ramen store that belonged to the former shinobi of the leaf and saw the destruction that had occurred in Naruto's absence. He made note that at some stage during the next few days he would send a Genin team there to clean it up for when Naruto returned, provided he did return sometime in the near future. Getting out of his chair, Sarutobi walked up to the edge of the platform, looking out at the teenagers that hoped to pass the exam. He couldn't help but envision a few years earlier when Naruto had stood before him, the rest of the Chūnin hopefuls towering over the tiny blonde who stood bravely with confidence against people at least three years his senior. That year had been wonderful to watch as the young prodigy made it to the final round to get knocked out in the final round to the eventual winner. Those two had been the only two to be promoted to Chūnin rank, although the other one ended up getting killed in a mission that both he and Naruto had been a part of.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," said Sarutobi, his voice booming across the pavilion so that all could hear. "Thank you for coming to the Hidden Village of Konoha's Chūnin selection exam. We will now begin the main matches with the nine that have managed to pass the preliminaries. Please enjoy these matches as you witness the shinobi of the villages show their skill as they attempt to reach the level of Chūnin."

"If there are meant to be nine, why is it that I only see eight?" asked the Kazekage.

"The one missing is the Genin who will be fighting your youngest in the last match of the first round, Uchiha Sasuke," said Sarutobi.

"Are you sure that he will be here?" asked the Kazekage.

"His sensei is Kakashi, the man who is notorious for being late," said Sarutobi with a slight smirk. "He will be here, it is just a question of when."

"Then I shall eagerly wait to see when young Sasuke arrives to fight Gaara, that shall undoubtedly be an excellent match to watch," said the Kazekage as Sarutobi took his seat next to him, the two leaders fixing their gaze on the arena as a number of the competitors left the ground level, leaving only Hanabi and Neji at ground level.

"Alright you two, give it your best," said Genma as he officially began the match, the two Hyūga taking matching stances as they eyed down their opponents. The atmosphere in the crowd was tense as they watched Hanabi stare down somebody six years her senior, neither she nor Neji making the first move for several moments. Neji stood there, calm and composed, much in contrast to Hanabi who already had beads of sweat forming upon her brow. It wasn't so much that she was nervous to fight Neji, but to the fact she was performing in front of a capacity arena. Not a seat was vacant and she could feel all their eyes focusing upon her and Neji, it was nerve wracking.

Neji could see that Hanabi was nervous, it was written all over her face. He realised there were several things he could do at the moment, the most dominant would be charging straight forward with a vicious purpose yet he doubted winning the match within thirty seconds would not really show him having qualities worthy of making Chūnin. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out several shuriken and without any hesitation let them loose as he tossed them towards Hanabi.

Hanabi seemed to snap back to reality as she saw the projectiles coming towards her and did her best to leap to the side away from the shuriken, yet wasn't quick enough to prevent her clothes from being torn. As the fabric flapped through the air Neji couldn't help but feel as if he saw that underneath the rip in Hanabi's clothes that he didn't see skin but a flash of green. As the younger Hyūga landed on her feet she charged forward, her mind now realising that this was not a time to get caught up in other things. Neji smirked as he raised his hands up and gracefully blocked the first attack that Hanabi threw.

Up in the competitor's box, Hinata watched as both her cousin and sister exchanged blow after blow, neither of them giving an inch and showing that their skill in the family Taijutsu was well worth the watch. She could tell by looking at some of the spectators this match would mean nothing to them, all they were after were some fancy jutsus and possibly an explosion or two. Looking at her fellow competitor's, Hinata eyed off her potential opponents. Due to the fact she had a bye this round it meant that she would either be fighting Shikamaru or Temari, both of which had shown promise in their fight in the preliminaries. In Temari's preliminary, Hinata had silently be rooting for Tenten to win but the weapons mistress simply got put against an opponent she couldn't beat, at least not at this stage in their ninja careers.

Hinata turned back towards the battlefield just to watch Hanabi skid across the ground, Neji having successfully gotten a strike through his younger cousin's guard. Getting back to her feet, Hanabi could already feel the damage that a single strike had done. Even after all her training, she was nowhere near fast enough nor strong enough to be able to tackle Neji. "You're good," she managed to say between ragged breaths. "Guess though I'm going to have to go all out."

This peaked Neji's interest, the Hyūga prodigy wondering what it was that Hanabi was planning. For her to rip off her shirt in front of the entire arena was not what he expected. Thankfully she was wearing something underneath but that still didn't stop his heart rate from going well over a normal rate from fear. Yet fear still managed to creep in as he observed just what it was that Hanabi was wearing. Clad in green spandex, he couldn't help but shiver at the sight of such an outfit upon someone of the Hyūga lineage. Shaking his head, Neji managed to snap back to his senses as he looked at Hanabi and got back into his fighting position. "I don't see what difference the clothes you are wearing makes," he said boldly, his tone rigorous and firm showing just how much he hated that attire.

"These clothes are the clothes of youth," said Hanabi, trying to make up a line of epic proportions that would make Gai proud. Sadly though Gai was the only person in the crowd that beamed proudly at Hanabi's line, everybody else unsure of what to think on the matter. For members of the Hyūga clan, many of them were contemplating walking out on the rest of the fight, not wanting to be embarrassed by the youngest combatant representing their family line. As for Hiashi, the head of the clan had originally been disgusted by what his daughter was wearing, now however he was seeing it in a comical light. Even though she was his daughter, he knew that Hanabi didn't have the skills to go toe to toe with Neji as Hyūga's traditionally fought one another so she went out of her way to try something different. Sadly though, she had found her inspiration from the most boisterous man in Konoha.

"Come then, show me what the 'clothes of youth' can do," beckoned Neji, waiting once more for Hanabi to charge forward. Yet the youngest competitor of the exams remained where she was, her hands clenched tightly as she held them close to her side.

It was then that Hanabi began to chant, nothing more than a whisper to start with as she pushed the embarrassment of wearing such garments in front of this crowd to the back of her mind. Over and over, she said the word 'youth,' like a mantra of some kind as if wishing for good luck to rain down upon her. Slowly, with every word her voice got stronger and carried further. "Youth, youth, youth, youth, youth," she said over and over, each time with more power resounding through her voice until the whole stadium and even those outside the battlegrounds could hear her. Finally, she inhaled deeply and stared up towards the sky and yelled at the top of her lungs, "This is the Springtime of Youth!"

As her words played out it happened all at once, as everybody watching the spectacle saw waves crashing down on the ground from out of nowhere as a solitary beam of sunlight shone directly onto the girl below in a blinding display. Many had to turn away as the light seemingly reflected off of the spandex caused their eyes to burn as if they were looking into the sun itself. As Hanabi looked towards where Neji stood, she lowered her arms as the genjutsu faded, yet Neji had seemingly vanished. "Had that been any other opponent you would have succeeded in this battle," he said in a stoic voice from behind her, before a light chop to the side of the neck caused her mind to fade black as she lost consciousness. "Unfortunately for you, I have suffered much worse from my team and still live to tell the tale," said Neji as he caught his younger cousin before she could hit the ground before laying her gently in the dirt.

"Winner: Hyūga Neji," announced Genma as he rubbed his eyes; having been so close to the attack it was as if an imprint of the image had been scolded into his memory forever. The members of the crowd that had regained their sight clapped for the victor, many of them wondering what kind of supernatural training Neji would have had to gone through in order to not be effected by such a technique.

"That was...enlightening," said the Kazekage from the corporate box.

"For the sake of my other Chūnin, I will not be promoting Hanabi this time round but she will undoubtedly be a force to be reckoned with in the future if she continues to train with Gai," said Sarutobi, fearful of what a young female version of Gai would be like. "As for Neji, I will have to wait to see how he performs in future rounds against somebody that isn't solely a Taijutsu combatant."

"You mean you aren't surprised about him being able to resist that genjutsu?" asked the Kazekage.

"Trust me, he's seen much worse," said Sarutobi with a shudder, knowing full well what Gai and Lee were capable of when they got in the mood.

"Well for our sakes, let us pray that there are no more students of 'youth' amongst the competitors," said the Kazekage, never wanting to bear witness to such a horrible experience ever again.

As the next match was called, Kankuro opted to forfeit rather than face Shino which made the bug user confused as to why and wait until the moment before the match to retire from the competition but said nothing about it. This of course had gotten a negative reaction from the crowd as people booed and jeered at the Suna shinobi that merely accepted their taunts. Shikamaru also would have been on that forfeit list had he literally not been pushed over the edge by Shino, the Aburame clan member saying that he would not allow a member of Konoha to make such a mistake. Despite having won the match in the eyes of everybody around him, Shikamaru had given up when he had had Temari beat which came as no real surprise to the people who knew Shikamaru. Somewhere in the crowd, Shikaku Nara chuckled as he pocketed the ticket he had been holding on to. Even though he knew it wasn't morally right, betting 10,000 ryu on his son to lose was the more profitable way to go.

Finally, the last match of the prelims was announced and as if by perfect timing, both Kakashi and Sasuke appeared in the arena in a swirl of leaves. It wasn't long before Gaara appeared on the battlefield, and with that the last round of the first round commenced.

...

**Hope you enjoyed, sorry about the delay, life got in the way. Let's hope the next chapter will come out sooner.**

**Peace**


	29. The Truth Emerges

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

For Jiraiya of the Sannin, many people would have presumed that he would have been watching the matches going on in the arena. Yet this was the perfect time for the Toad Sage to relieve his godson of some money so that he could go spend a bit on ladies and booze. Considering that most of the population of Konoha, especially the ninja community, were watching the Chūnin exams he didn't even need to be that stealthy as he casually broke into Naruto's apartment with nothing more than a small piece of wire. Closing the door behind him, Jiraiya looked at the apartment to see that the blonde had managed to keep it in relatively good condition since he'd been here, now though he just had to figure out where Naruto stashed all his money. It wasn't like he was going to take all of it, just eighty percent of it or so.

His ninja instincts kicked in though as he leant backwards, a senbon soaring just past his nose that swiftly lodged itself into the cupboard nearby. Turning his head, the sage couldn't help but feel a bit of pride in Naruto for the fact there was a girl roughly the teenagers age waiting for the blonde in bed. Not only that but she was dressed in only a towel with her hair still wet from the shower she had just taken. "You have learnt well," he said with a chuckle under his breath. For his rambling another senbon was thrown at him that was avoided once more. "Feisty one aren't you."

"I don't know what you want but get out of here," threatened Kin, another senbon in her hand prepared to be launched at the infiltrator.

"Calm down, calm down," said Jiraiya as he put his hands up in a surrendering position. When Kin however made no movement to leave the confines of the bedroom he couldn't help but be curious. Slowly, he took a step forward.

"Don't come any closer," warned Kin but Jiraiya could automatically tell that it was a bluff. Here she was staring down an intruder with only senbon as her ammunition in tight confines against somebody with skill that was decades in advance to what she possessed. Well she might not have known she was in the weaker position but he didn't need to let her know that, at least not yet.

"Why not?" he asked as if it were all a game, taking a single step forward as if to prove his point.

"I don't know who you are but get out of Naruto's house!" threatened Kin, tossing the senbon she possessed. This time Jiraiya made no intention of dodging the projectile but rather caught it in between two fingers.

"Am I not allowed into my godson's house?" he asked playfully as he walked forward now without the threat of having any sharp pointy objects poking into his skin.

"Naruto's your godson," repeated Kin in disbelief, not knowing what to believe since Naruto had never mentioned anything of this.

"I'm about the only family he's got, but we don't have anything resembling a parent child relationship, we're just buddies more than anything," said Jiraiya in a joking mode as he tried to make sense of the actual relationship he and the blonde had. When Naruto had first learnt that Jiraiya was his godfather the blonde had been ecstatic but it didn't take long before they were friends more than family. Naruto rarely even mentioned that Jiraiya was his godfather, supposedly so that he wasn't compared to the legendary ninja whenever the relation was mentioned. Not wanting to really irk the kid, Jiraiya had taken to this silent agreement just fine cause it also took a lot of the burden off of his own shoulders.

"So what do you want?" asked Kin as Jiraiya stepped into the room. The white haired sage however didn't answer her question however as his interest was no longer on the female sitting on the bed but rather the fact that he could sense something strange about the room, as if chakra itself was present within the very walls. Kin had never seen anybody perform seals as fast as this white haired man just had before he slammed his hand on the ground.

"Ninpo: Fuuin Hireki," he shouted as the jutsu took effect and once more Kin was astonished as the seals that had been lining the walls nearly a week ago came back into existence. She wondered whether or not this was the opportunity to escape but she quickly repeated the jutsu that this person had cast. 'Ninja Art: Seal Reveal,' not 'seal disperse,' meaning that she was still trapped within these walls, the only difference now was that the seal was visible.

"Does it make you happy, seeing my cage?" asked Kin, trying to get some information out of Naruto's godfather.

"What do you mean?" asked Jiraiya as he rubbed the ink plastered on the wall. He had known that Naruto had gained a fair amount of skill in the sealing arts, something of this standard though was nearly unheard of. He could tell how precise every stroke was, the purpose of every drop of ink. Most seals were drawn upon something small as to create a big impact in a small area, this design though couldn't be done on something as simple as a piece of paper and Jiraiya couldn't help but wonder where Naruto had gotten the design for such a thing. Still though, he doubted that the boy was better than him in the sealing arts.

"Those seals are the only thing preventing me from leaving, all because he drew these on my arms," said Kin as she pointed to one of the seals upon her arm, something which caught Jiraiya's attention. He stepped closer to Kin, inspecting her arm with a serious expression on his face before he burst out into laughter. "What's so funny, because of this if I so much as step foot into the passageway I'm going to be fried by a million volts of electricity," declared Kin.

"And how do you know this?" asked Jiraiya, a cheeky expression on his face.

"He wrote the same seal on a kunai and tossed it down the passageway and I watched as it got struck by lightning," explained Kin.

"You sure it was the same seal?" asked Jiraiya teasingly, as if admitting he knew something Kin did not.

"Well...I...uhh," mumbled Kin, unable to come up with a suitable answer. Since her arms had been tied behind her back during the sealing she hadn't been able to see the ink being painted on her skin and the seal on the kunai had vanished long before she had had a good chance to have a look at it. "If it's not a seal like that then what is it?" asked Kin.

"It's a coded seal," explained Jiraiya as Kin looked at her forearm. "See these strokes here, they have actually been shifted around due to the jutsu having taken effect. This kind of seal was used in the war so that if messages were intercepted by the enemy shinobi they would be unable to read what the message actually said."

"Are you sure about this?" asked Kin.

"Of course I am, I'm the one who invented this seal," boasted Jiraiya making Kin look at him in disbelief.

"Just who are you?" she asked, her words slow and purposeful.

"I could go through an eccentric and long winded introduction but since you've already gotten to know me somewhat I can let it go by this one time. I am Jiraiya of the Sannin," introduced the toad sage. For a few seconds the information failed to sink in, Kin just sitting there with a blank face before she pointed an accusing finger at the sage.

"You're the Jiraiya!" she shouted in disbelief.

"The one and only," said Jiraiya with a smile. It was in this moment that Kin weighed up her options, at least the extremes at both ends. Option A had her attacking Jiraiya and hopefully not getting killed in the process before taking his head to Orochimaru to show that she was not some worthless person. The other extreme would be to tell Jiraiya everything about Oto and how it was founded by Orochimaru, then go on to tell about all the details including location, size of economy and military force so on so forth. Yet before she could start weighing up the options, Jiraiya grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she tried to pull her arm back only for the white haired man's grip to remain firm.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to find out what the message is," said Jiraiya. "After all, don't you want to know what it is that has been written upon your arms all this time?" With the final word he released his grip but Kin's arm remained in position before she held it out in front of her, bringing her other arm forward to do the same. The toad sage made several seals before channelling chakra into his right thumb before rubbing it over both of the seals. Kin watched in amazement as the ink began to shift and move upon her arm. It only took a few seconds before the lines came to a stop and the message was once again readable. Lifting her arms upwards so that she could see clearly, Kin read out what the message was.

"Stop being stingy Ero-Sennin."

Jiraiya couldn't help but burst into laughter as anger started to boil up inside Kin. All this time she thought that she had been trapped within these walls but in actuality all she had been was a message that may or may not have been open for a perverted man. "Don't get so worked up about it," said Jiraiya as he calmed down, the ink on Kin's arms vanishing away with the message having been received.

"How am I not meant to get worked up about it?" shouted Kin as she got to her feet, making sure the towel she was wearing didn't slip off at any stage. Somehow she figured from the reaction that Jiraiya had had that the message was originally intended for him and if the 'Ero' in the Ero-Sennin was anything to go off she wasn't going to accidentally flash the elderly man. "Do you mean to tell me that I could have gotten up and walked out at any time I wanted?"

"No," said Jiraiya as he shook his head. "What it means is that you were still a prisoner, Naruto wanted you to stay for whatever reason, but at the same time he didn't want any harm to fall to you. So instead of putting something incredibly dangerous on your arm he created the illusion that you were trapped but in all actuality you were never in harm's way."

Kin sat back down as she let this sink in, she couldn't figure out if all this time she'd been a prisoner or just a houseguest with restricted access. While she hated having been manipulated like that, she couldn't help but smile knowing that Naruto didn't want her to get hurt.

Jiraiya leaned forward to give her some comforting words but cut himself off as his peripheral vision picked up a trail of smoke coming from where the arena was located. "That can't be good," he said as he peered out the window.

"What's wrong?" asked Kin before she found a hand draped around her throat, lifting her off the bed. The towel dropped to the floor leaving her in her naked glory but that didn't matter to the Oto shinobi at the moment as she tried to release the grip that Jiraiya had around her throat.

"That smoke is a signal, somebody in the stadium's just summoned reinforcements, do you know anything about an attack on Konha!" he demanded of the young Genin.

"I...know...nothing," said Kin in between shallow breaths. Several seconds passed before the grip around her throat was released and Kin fell to the floor before she pushed herself to her hands and knees as she allowed sweet oxygen to pump into her lungs.

"Your eyes don't lie," said Jiraiya having observed Kin closely in those last few moments. Plus he had no reason to believe that whatever force was attacking, provided they were even on the same team, that they would have informed a lowly Genin a week before the attack so that in the off chance they were captured they wouldn't know any information. "If your village is the one attacking, who will you fight for?"

Kin looked up at the Sannin, as she considered the options in front of her. Several seconds passed before she came to her decision, pushing herself to stand upright even without any clothes adorning her body. "I will fight for Konoha," she declared boldly. "Being here makes me realise how much I hate Oto. For the first time since I became a ninja I've actually been happy where I've been living, even if I was a prisoner."

"Good enough, but you are not to leave my sight during this battle," said Jiraiya as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a Konoha headband, making Kin curious as to why he had such a thing stored on him. "You have thirty seconds to get your gear on and if you prove yourself I'll have you made a Konoha shinobi by the end of the day."

If the fact she was nude wasn't motivation enough, the thought of becoming a shinobi of Konoha made her get into her equipment at a breakneck pace. Barely twenty seconds had passed before the two of them leapt forth to counter whatever attack was being made on the village.

...

"An impenetrable field!" shouted one of the three ANBU as they came to a stop outside the purple cube, his teammate having noted the impenetrable part by having jumped into it only to be set on fire.

"Damn it, how are we meant to help Hokage-sama from here?" questioned another ANBU. The three ANBU could only watch as the two leaders of the nations chatted away, the Kazekage holding a kunai at the throat of the leader of Konoha. One of the ANBU members was becoming frantic, looking around to see if there was anything within the cube that could be of use to the Hokage. His eyes however spotted something different as he saw black seals having been written along the tiles of the rooftop.

"Either of you know what that seal is?" he asked pointing in the general direction.

"It's a concealment seal, the seal creates an illusionary field that makes whatever's inside seem invisible provided it remains unmoving," explained the head ANBU.

"So...what's it concealing?" asked another one of the ANBU. They were given an answer however as a body appeared within the small square, a blond haired teen getting to his feet as he rubbed a hand through his hair.

"I come here to watch the exams and something like this happens," he said with a depressing sigh. "Seriously some god out there must have it in for me."

"What are you doing here?" asked Sarutobi, his attention shifting from the kunai at his throat to the latest entrant to appear.

"Oh, this is unexpected, I didn't expect you to be hear Naruto-kun," said the Kazekage as his eyes shifted towards the blonde.

"Drop the act Orochimaru, I can tell it's you," said Naruto. He got what he was after as Orochimaru gripped his face and pulled off the skin like a moulting snake to reveal his original face.

"Well, this is an interesting development," said Orochimaru as he casually walked away from Sarutobi, lowering the kunai as he did before finding a safe medium in between both Sarutobi and Naruto, as if the middle was the safest place to be. "It might not be according to plan but it's still entertaining."

"Naruto, I know what I did was foolish and if we get out of this I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you, but I beg of you, help me cleanse another mistake of my past," begged Sarutobi. The elderly Hokage knew that having an extra person to consider inside the containment could potentially be more trouble than anything but with the skills that Naruto possessed he hoped that the blonde would be willing to help him.

"Sorry Gramps, it's not that simple unfortunately," said Naruto as he rubbed his eyes. "I really prayed I'd never have to see this bastard again."

"You two have met?" asked Sarutobi, wondering why he had never been informed of this.

"It was just shy of three years ago, wasn't it Naruto-kun," said Orochimaru, Sarutobi's eyes focusing at those words. The third Hokage knew what date his former pupil was referring to and while he made a front to know what had happened to make Naruto quit being a shinobi, the truth of the matter was that he knew very little.

"Don't remind me," said Naruto with a shake of his head.

"Naruto, why would you not be able to fight alongside me?" asked Sarutobi, wanting to get to the bottom of this.

Naruto looked across the rooftop into the eyes of the village leader. For the moment the personal grudge that he held against the grandfatherly figure was pushed to the side with more urgent matters at hand. Yet this was the one moment in time that Naruto had wanted wiped clean from his memory. Knowing that either he or Orochimaru was going to answer, Naruto took a deep breath in.

"If...if it wasn't for Orochimaru...I'd be dead."

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Hanabi's Biggest Fan: Trust me, Hanabi isn't going to fade out of this story anytime soon. As for the lemon with Kin, it'll be interesting to see how that works out now.**

**Peace**


	30. How it All Began

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

_A much younger Naruto walked within the group of eight, the two squads which had been assigned to travel a member of royalty to the capital of the Land of Fire. The mission had gone off without a single problem, despite there always being the possibility of an attack there had been no sign of danger throughout the entire trip. Considering for some of them this had been their longest trip away from Konoha they had decided to not worry about the pace they were going instead of rushing back to be handed their next assignment. They would pick up the pace tomorrow just so that they were only a couple of days late rather than a week._

"_C'mon man, cheer up," said Jeizu, rubbing the top of Naruto's hair as he walked by the blonde's side._

"_How many times have I told you not to do that!" grumbled Naruto as he swatted the hand away._

"_Well when you manage to grow an extra couple of feet and actually match me in height I won't have a reason to," said Jeizu with a smile. "What's got you so down anyways?"_

"_It's the Jonin exams, they're coming up soon," said Naruto as he focused upon the path in front of him._

"_What, upset that I'm not going to be entering to beat you in the final round again?" asked Jeizu feigning to have had his feelings crushed._

"_Pfft, you know that that was a fluke," said Naruto, lightly bumping his friend with his elbow._

"_Yea well unlike you I'm not some prodigy, I'll happily take my victory over you whatever way I can," he said chuckling. "Anyways, why you so bummed out about the exam, it's not even for another two months."_

"_Everyone expects me to graduate without any hassle, that's a lot of pressure to be put on me," said Naruto._

"_Buuuuuuuuttttt..." said Jeizu, dragging the word out for emphasis._

"_I just wonder if I'll get my own Genin team, would they respect me?" pondered Naruto. "Would they even pay attention to their Jonin sensei who isn't just younger than them but a good foot shorter?"_

"_You'd probably be a much better teacher to fresh Genin than I would," said Jeizu._

"_What makes you say that?" asked Naruto, looking up at his friend._

"_You'd be able to relate to them, pull out the best in all of them. Heck I wouldn't mind having been taught by you."_

"_You mean it?"_

"_Well it kind of wouldn't be fair to being taught by someone who defeated you in a fight."_

"_I swear how many times are you going to bring that up!"_

"_As many times as I want because..."_

"_Stop!" stated the group commander and at the sound of his voice everything else came to a halt. What had been joyful chatter suddenly died down into utter silence as people tensed as to why they had been commanded to come to a standstill. The Chūnin who had been selected to lead the assignment was from the Inuzuka clan but had felt a bit lost the entire trip without his canine companion. The reason for such a cruel thing to occur was that the royalty they had been escorting was allergic to dogs and hence the loyal ally had been left behind for this assignment._

_Naruto watched as he lifted his nose into the air, sniffing out to try and locate whatever it was that had infiltrated his sinuses. Lifting his head however turned out to be his undoing as a kunai rocketed forth and caught him directly in the throat._

_The less experienced Chūnin froze at the horrendous sight; it barely took more than a few seconds before his last ragged breath ran forth before his life came to an abrupt end. For those few who had been Chūnin for several years they had already pulled out their own weapons to defend themselves against any other stray attacks. No more kunai flashed forwards however but two men appeared on the road before them, walking slowly yet purposefully towards them. While the black cloak with red clouds wasn't symbolic for many of the members of the Konoha troupe, Naruto however couldn't help but freeze in his place. _

_Jeizu looked at Naruto momentarily and saw the frightened look in the blonde's eye and in turn he couldn't but become afraid. This was clearly a dangerous threat if the strongest one between them was shaking in his boots. While their heads were covered by straw hats with white strips the shielded the view of their faces, the only other notable thing they could see were nearly identical rings, both of them having a single one which held a different kanji, but from this distance it was nearly impossible to see just what the symbol was._

"_Declare who you are and what your purpose is!" shouted one of the other Chūnin, finding a bit of bravado in the situation despite the death of their squad captain._

"_Kukuku, isn't that cute, someone thinks they could possibly stand up to us," chuckled one of the men. "Perhaps we should show them what true ninja of Konoha are capable of."_

"_Wait, these guys are from Konoha?" questioned one of the two female Chūnin who had been a part of the team._

"_Were," stated Naruto as he clasped his hand tightly, his nails digging into his palm._

"_Wait, these guys are missing-nin," said Jeizu as he clicked on to what Naruto had said. Suddenly he understood why Naruto was so worried, there were only a handful of ninja who had ever left the Konoha forces and being labelled missing-nin, and none of them were to be trifled with without support. The fact that two of them were confident enough to tackle seven Chūnin meant that this was going to be a dangerous battle._

"_Not just any missing-nin, these are possibly two of the strongest ninja to ever have come out of Konoha," said Naruto as he clenched his teeth._

"_Well, Jiraiya has been keeping good tabs on us," said Orochimaru as he revealed himself. If the rest of the Chūnin hadn't been scared by the fact they were facing missing-nin, they now were. It was even worse however as the other member of the duo revealed himself, the smell of urine excreting from one of the Chūnin but everybody tried to ignore it as best as they could. It was at this moment when everybody quickly realised how much trouble they truly were in, not only were they facing a single member of the Sannin, but also the Uchiha who had famously executed his entire family save for his younger brother in a single night. Silently, they all forgave whoever had pissed themselves as it was an understandable situation._

"_Guys, run," said Naruto as he felt the Kyuubi's chakra start to leak into his system. The only way he was possibly going to win this fight was if he brought his A-game from the start. But even he wasn't foolish enough to believe he could walk away from this fight, all he wanted to do was buy enough time to allow his teammates to get away. The problem was he didn't know how much of the Kyuubi's chakra he could filter into his system without losing control, and that was one of the most dangerous situations of all. He had never pushed past the first tail, but if there ever was a situation he would need to, this was it._

"_No, we're in this together," said Jeizu as he slipped into a fighting stance alongside Naruto. Naruto watched as all of the other Chūnin around him slipped into a stance, some more confidently than others as they looked down at their opponents. "All of us are in this."_

"_NO!" shouted Naruto, as his rage began to consume him, the Kyuubi's chakra slowly starting to have an effect over him. All of his teammates seemed to freeze at the outburst, never once having seen him lose his cool or try to order them around. "All of you have to run; I'll hold them off as long as you can."_

"_Are you kidding, you'll get slaughtered!"_

"_And if you stay here, you will to!" exclaimed Naruto._

"_Kukuku, sorry, but we can't allow any of you to go anywhere," chuckled Orochimaru as he struck. For those who had been unprepared for the speed the Sannin possessed they were mercilessly slaughtered, their blood splashing over the path to be absorbed by the dirt. Jeizu watched in horror as a snake flew out of Orochimaru's sleeve and caught Naruto in the throat, the blonde gagging momentarily before exploding in a puff of smoke, revealing itself to be a shadow clone. Hoping this little opening gave him the element of surprise he charged forward, kicking at Orochimaru's head only for his attack to get caught with minimal effort. It was at this moment that Jeizu swore he saw his life flash before his eyes but his death would not come at that moment as Naruto charged past at incredible speeds, punching Orochimaru across the side of the head._

_While the attack managed to give Jeizu his freedom, it hardly gave him confidence as Orochimaru took the blow without even a single indication that he had been injured before lashing out at Naruto but before he could strike the blonde Naruto vanished and retaliated by appearing behind Orochimaru and kicking his head clean off. Jeizu sighed in relief but his reprieve was short lived as the form of Orochimaru before him dissolved into a pile of mud._

_Naruto's eyes quickly scanned the battlefield, of the eight of them who had started this fight only four of them remained and at this rate the other three would die without even a warning. It was humiliating almost, the second member of the duo hadn't even begun fighting yet and he was possibly the more dangerous of the two. His teammate seemed to have located Orochimaru and swiftly tossed a kunai at the missing-nin, only for the member of the Sannin to grab it between two fingers before tossing it back twice as fast, the weapon imbedding itself into the Chūnin's throat._

_Naruto growled predatorily as he allowed the Kyuubi's chakra to consume him, he could feel the first tail forming into place behind him. Thankfully with Kakashi having monitored his training of the venomous chakra alongside Jiraiya, he had full mastery over the first tail to the point where not a single one of his judgements were clouded. In a flash he stood before his two remaining allies, shielding them from the enemy as his hands flashed through several seals in a single second. "Doton: Doryuudan!" shouted Naruto as he pumped massive amounts of chakra into the attack. Next to him, a dragon's head emerged from the ground before opening it up and shooting chunks of Earth towards Orochimaru at a rapid rate. The only central drawback with this attack however was that it was designed to be targeted against a platoon rather than a single enemy, the attack being more widespread destruction as opposed to being a precision attack. Naruto had kept this in mind however, as even though the attacks were more spaced out the further away from the origin of the bullets of Earth were, it also meant that it prevented enemies from getting too close as it was much more powerful at close range with the odds of multiple projectiles hitting the target was much more likely._

_Jeizu watched on in disbelief as Naruto's attack rocketed forward, every attack that went wayward not only hit a nearby tree but utterly destroyed it. Undoubtedly if this attack continued on for several minutes what was once a lush forest would quickly turn into a desolate wasteland. Naruto's attack however would be forced to come to a quick closure however as Orochimaru sized up the number of attacks rocketing forward, weaving between the projectiles with relative ease before he pulled out a single kunai and tossed it forwards. The weapon pierced through the attack without pause, avoiding all of the clumps of mud as it raced towards Naruto's face. The blonde could do nothing but leap to the side as he avoided the attack but it has still managed to get him, a light cut having formed on his cheek were a slight trickle of blood glided down his skin. It didn't take long for the small wound to patch itself up, but only the two members of Akatsuki noticed, the other two Konoha Chūnin were much too worried for their lives at this moment to notice the small details._

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" shouted Naruto as twenty copies of himself burst into existence. Without hesitation, they all charged forward determined to at least give their leader enough time to figure out a plan to escape from this monstrous scenario. Naruto figured that he had twenty seconds at the most to come up with some sort of plan but he was no Nara, whatever he decided to do would be flawed regardless in some way, shape or form. Kakashi had recently taught him Chidori but considering that his opponent was much faster than him the assassination jutsu would be of no help to him in this situation. His only real chance was to use brute strength, sadly that also meant that he would be giving up a part of himself to the Kyuubi. "Fox, I know you don't like me and I don't like you," muttered Naruto under his breath, "but if either of us want to live to see tomorrow you better flood me with a shit tonne more chakra!"_

_His prayer would not go unanswered as he felt the Kyuubi's chakra envelop him, the fox more than willing to lend it's chakra in a fight against a member of the Uchiha clan. Moments passed before the second tail formed behind Naruto who flexed his grip several times as if to ensure everything was still functioning correctly. Without waiting another moment he charged forward at breakneck speeds and drove his fist towards Orochimaru who swatted the attack away before trying to counteract. Naruto however was able to block the attack in kind as he pulled out his katana and tried to separate Orochimaru's head from his shoulders. The snake Sannin however ducked beneath the blow before uppercutting Naruto, knocking the blonde straight up into the air before kicking his chest and knocking the child several metres back. Barely a moment passed between when Naruto's feet touched the floor and he leapt forward on the offensive once more. With every swing he took, he could feel his motions becoming more feral, his attacks more relentless. He no longer cared what he attacked so long as it died by his hand._

_Naruto's nose became busted as Orochimaru punched him directly in the face, blood clouding the blonde's vision as he was sent reeling. Before he could compose himself several kunai became embedded in different limbs, causing him to roar out in pain. "It is time we finished this," stated Itachi as he stepped forward, joining the member of the Sannin in the middle of the battleground._

"_Yes Itachi-kun," replied Orochimaru as he watched the member of the Uchiha clan walk past him towards Naruto. The blonde however could do nothing, his body exhausted from the battle and the potent chakra was having its toll upon his body, his chakra system was nowhere near prepared for such an influx of power from the fox. When he felt a hand place itself upon his shoulder he reacted out of pure instinct and attacked the person who had touched him. His eyes went wide however as he realised that he had just struck out against Jeizu; yet it was much worse than that as Naruto realised that his hand had gone straight through the Chūnin's chest and had pierced through the other side. Several seconds passed and with each moment Naruto prayed that this was a genjutsu of some kind but it was not to be._

_As he removed his hand from his best friend's chest the Kyuubi's chakra seemed to evaporate in an instant as realisation began to sink in, Jeizu's blood clinging to his arm like a rash. "Na...ruto..." whispered Jeizu before blood leaked from his mouth, his body faltering as he fell forward into the blonde._

"_It...it was an accident!" shouted Naruto but his words fell upon a dead man's ears, Jeizu having passed away in Naruto's arms before the blonde could apologise._

"_Naruto, we have to leave now," said the last remaining Chūnin apart from the blonde. Looking over his shoulder with tear filled eyes, Naruto saw why his companion had so much urgency in her voice. For whatever reason, Orochimaru had turned his assault upon Itachi and the Uchiha was countering with a genjutsu of sorts that had the snake Sannin paralysed. Even though he didn't want to leave the body of his friend lying in the dirt in the middle of nowhere, he knew this was his only chance to escape and hoped that the two of them would be able to get as far away from the scene as possible._

_Wiping the tears from his eyes, he placed Jeizu's body on the ground before he and his ally leapt away, running as fast as their legs could take them just to get as much distance from their enemy as they possibly could. Hours could have passed before they finally came to a stop, their lungs burning and their muscles aching from exhaustion. Minutes passed before Naruto felt like they were safe enough that he sat down next to a tree, his face buried in his palms. "I killed him," he said softly._

"_You were in a frenzied state, you can't blame yourself," said the other Chūnin as she caught her breath._

"_But what if it happens again, what if I kill another Konoha shinobi," said Naruto as he looked at his ally. Sadly though, she had no answer to give him._

"_We're going to have to tell the Hokage about this," she said._

"_No, please don't say anything about this," begged Naruto. "I don't want the village to label me as a friend slayer."_

"_What if he asks me questions, how am I meant to respond?" she asked._

"_Just say that the memory was too traumatic and you refuse to relive that moment or something like that, we'll figure it out when we get closer to Konoha," said Naruto in frustration._

"_What about you then, what are you going to say?"_

"_I don't know but please, I beg of you, do not tell the Sandaime anything," said Naruto, the tone of his voice full of regret and sorrow. A minute passed as the Chūnin weighed up her options before she ran her fingers through her hair._

"_Alright, I'll do this for you Naruto," she said in defeat._

"_Thank you, I'm in your debt Uzuki Yūgao," said Naruto formally as he bowed his head. The purple haired Chūnin said nothing in response as the two of them rested up, determined to make it back to Konoha as quickly as they could._

_..._

Sarutobi struggled to believe what he had just heard but he undoubtedly believed every word that had come out of Naruto's mouth. "Ah, that moment seems like yesterday," said Orochimaru who had enjoyed the amount of detail that Naruto had delved in to.

"It's because of you deciding to attack Itachi that I'm alive," said Naruto as he looked at the Sannin with relentless fury in his eyes. "Yet because of you my best friend died that day! Even if it costs me my own life, I swear that you will not live to see tomorrow! Jiji, I would gladly fight alongside you but before you even get a chance I'm going to kill this bastard myself!" shouted Naruto as he leapt towards Orochimaru with his fist pulled back. Three years he had waited for this moment and he would not rest until he got his revenge.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Hanabi's Biggest Fan: I'd say that the odds on them doing something sexual is still a possibility, though I think Kin would want to be the one in charge after having been trapped for so long. The desire is still there on her part which will make things interesting down the road.**

**On another note, I will be participating in a Q&A session over the next couple of days for anybody who wants to ask me a question. It doesn't matter what topic it is on but I will do my best to answer it. To find this, look at the Team Dragon Star forum page and scroll down until you find the Q&A with Raz section. I look forward to seeing what you have to ask**

**Peace.**


	31. As the Smoke Clears

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

…

Blinding light pierced his eyes as Naruto lifted a bandaged hand to shield his dilating pupils. His view focused on the coverings that surrounded his wrist and knew that they were likely more for show now, the Kyuubi more than likely having healed whatever wounds had covered his body.

"You finally awake kid," said Jiraiya as he sat on the windowsill next to Naruto's hospital bed.

"Seems so," said Naruto not even turning to face the sage. "How long was I out?"

"Day and a bit," answered Jiraiya.

"Take it since we're alive that we won."

"For the moment, we're making sure to put up a brave front so that nobody else gets an ideas of taking us when we're at our weakest," said Jiraiya having been in those meetings only hours ago. Naruto didn't respond as he simply stared at the ceiling overhead. "Naruto, what happened up there?"

"I got my ass handed to me," said Naruto as he rubbed his eyes recalling how badly he had been beaten. "Three tails…"

"Three!" exclaimed Jiraiya not knowing that the blonde could maintain that much demonic chakra.

"Yea yea," said Naruto waving it off. "Still it wasn't enough and even though I thought I had the upper hand on Orochimaru he still showed me how weak I was. After the old man joined in Orochimaru summoned the first two Hokage and sent the first after me. If I thought I had been bested by Orochimaru then the first absolutely decimated me."

"Considering it was the first, you should be happy that you survived," admitted Jiraiya not even sure enough of his own skills whether he'd be able to go toe to toe with the Shodaime and walk away still in one piece.

"Still, I sent jutsu after jutsu, kick after kick and I'm pretty sure I blew him up at one point. The thing was though I don't even think he was at his strongest but rather having resurrected he was barely at a fourth of the strength he had had when he was in his prime," explained Naruto recalling the feeling of helplessness that he had felt when he had fended against the first for his life. "I'm not sure if it's a side effect from being resurrected or if Orochimaru had just done the technique wrong but I don't ever want to go through that hell again."

"Well at least through your actions we managed to capture one of Orochimaru's top agents," stated Jiraiya.

"I did?" questioned Naruto.

"Trust me, you did," said Jiraiya with a cheeky smirk.

"I guess there is a silver lining then," said Naruto with a smile.

"Yea but the cloud that lining is surrounding is pretty bleak," muttered Jiraiya as his mood dampened severely. Naruto turned towards the white haired sage looking for an answer and sadly the one he got was not one that he imagined anybody would want to hear.

"The Sandaime's dead."

…

Tayuya sat within the confines of her prison, her chakra sealed and completely powerless in the situation that had befallen her. With her arms bound behind her back with solid steel there was little she could do provided she got out of the cell anyways. If the prison enough wasn't enough to hold her there were two black clad ANBU members standing just outside the prison door to ensure that she didn't try anything funny despite the stipulations already put into place.

Shaking her head, she still couldn't believe how she had ended up in this mess in the first place and swore if she ever saw the blonde haired kid again she would tear him a new one. Her eyes glazed over slightly as she looked through the bars but her vision was far from the surrounding iron as she visualised just how she this had all happened.

…

_Focusing intently on the task at hand, Tayuya had no real problem with maintaining the barrier but she just wished that she was out on the field wiping the floor with the blood of Konoha shinobi's herself. An audible thud from nearby caught her attention as she saw the blonde who had somehow gotten trapped within the barrier which caught her attention, finally having something else to watch then the smoke in the distance. For all intents and purposes that brat looked like he should be dead if the blood covering his body was any indication. It also looked like his arm was heavily broken and she couldn't be sure whether or not he was even still alive._

_She was given some manner of reassurance on the topic as he placed his one good hand onto the tiled surface as he tried to push himself up to his knees but slipped and his face collided with the roof surface. Tayuya couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid, it would just be the brats luck that he would be camping out in the one place where people leagues beyond his skill would be fighting one another._

_Lifting his head, he looked Tayuya in the eye with sheer determination and the redhead had to admit that the kid had guts if that really counted for anything in the long run. Pushing himself to his knees blood escaped his lips as he coughed and hacked away as if one of his lungs was punctured, yet still he pushed himself upwards until he finally got to his feet, his eyes still dead set on Tayuya. The sound ninja thought that the blonde's brains must have gotten scrambled somewhere in the fight as he stepped towards her and the barrier that protected her back._

_As he reached forward however he didn't burst into flames like she imagined but rather phazed right through the purple barrier as if it was nothing and Tayuya's eyes went wide with shock. Were this a normal scenario she would quickly kill the blonde and be done with it but if she moved her arms from her position then the barrier would break and the ANBU standing nearby would be able to get to Orochimaru and potentially ruin all of his plans. If she did nothing however then the blonde would kill her and the barrier would drop anyways, the only real difference between the scenarios was if she was to break the barrier and escape then if Orochimaru got hold of her she would also be killed but that would only be after months if not years of strenuous physical and mental torture. To be quite frank, if the kid was to kill her now she would be truly thankful._

_It would not be the case however as instead of the kunai she expected to drive into the back of her neck she felt his one good hand wrap around her waist and start caressing her breast, his palm quickly moving beneath her clothes. "What you doing you little fuck," she cursed as she did her best not to knock the little fucker out right then and there. This only seemed to spur the blonde on as his fingers tweaked at her nipple and Tayuya couldn't help but shiver under the kid's grip. For a fresh teenager this little brat knew what he was doing._

_From her position she tried to stomp on his foot but the blonde countered by moving the arm that she thought was broken and moved his hand downwards and started rubbing her pants right between her legs and Tayuya couldn't help but shiver at the touch. "Fuck," she cursed but this time not directed at the brat but rather at the emotions she was feeling. Having been a key member in Orochimaru's party nobody had really shown any emotion to her other than fear. To have this blonde kid simply do these sort of things to her was crazy in it's own right but she couldn't help but enjoy these sensations. Nobody before had had the guts to even approach her, let alone talk to her or in this very extreme case, touch her where she rarely even touched herself._

_With her concentration starting to fade from the task at hand, she knew she could only last so long from the boy's fingers, especially when she felt the his fingers move briefly and climb up to her waist before sliding down once more, this time though only the fabric of her pants was outside his fingers. An audible moan escaped her lips before she bit her lower lip to try and suppress the sound. Tayuya knew she could only last so long, her arms were getting heavy and she wanted to show the prissy little fuck that she was not going to let some snot nosed kid one up her. She was going to show him that she would be the one in charge._

_Knowing she only had a few seconds left before her will gave up on her, she decided that if she was going to get killed by the ANBU waiting just outside she was going to die on cloud nine. "That's it you little fuck!" shouted Tayuya as she dropped from her stance and twisted on the spot, the barrier vanishing as she gripped the blonde by the scruff of his tattered shirt and lifted him off of his feet before slamming her lips upon his._

_An experience she only thought would last a second at most extended as she realised that there was no kunai being slammed into the back of her neck, nor were any jutsus being fired in her direction but she pushed that to the back of her mind as her tongue began to delve into Naruto's mouth, the blonde returning the kiss in full force._

_Little did Tayuya know that outside of the genjutsu she had been caught in she had dropped the protective barrier nearly a minute earlier than she believed she had and was now rolling along the rooftops pleasuring herself with her own fingers. For the sole ANBU standing nearby who hadn't given chase to Orochimaru they couldn't help but feel sorry for the red haired woman as the genjutsu continued._

…

Tayuya cursed under her breath as she replayed the thought and couldn't help but wish she truly had been fucking the blonde as opposed to the stupid genjutsu. Perhaps if she played her cards right she could get that chance somewhere down the line, or at least part of her mind wished provided she ever got out of this cell.

…

"Alright, you're all clear," declared the nurse as Naruto exited the hospital, glad to be out of the pristine white walls. More likely than not the woman just wanted the blonde out of the building and Naruto was more than happy to comply.

While he had been shocked at first by the news that the figure that had been like a grandfather growing up was gone, he was kind of relieved that it had been done so doing the thing that he loved. Protecting Konoha.

This hadn't meant that he had forgiven him by any means but he wouldn't be one to hate the dead. Neutral standing would probably be the best way to put his emotions at this current place in time.

Looking around the streets he could see the effects of the battle were clear but thankfully it seemed like collateral damage was kept to a relative minimum. He wondered how many of his regular customers would not find themselves coming for another bowl once he decided to open up shop again.

"Good to see you're back in town," said Kakashi, the copy ninja seemingly appearing from nowhere as he landed by Naruto's side.

"No doubt you've heard of my exploits during the battle," said Naruto as he continued walking, his former sensei matching him stride for stride.

"Along with the rest of the ninja community, yes," said Kakashi in his casual monotonous voice.

"Well I imagine the push to make me a ninja again will be made," said Naruto running his fingers through his hair. "Doesn't matter though, I won't be taking it."

"Figured you'd say something like that," said Kakashi with a shrug, kind of half expecting what his ex-pupil would say on the topic. "Take it that doesn't mean you're going to stop training though I take it."

"The safest place for me at the moment is within the walls of Konoha, I'm not even going to bother stepping outside those gates. I won't allow people to die because of me again."

"Noble," said Kakashi as he pulled out his favorite all time book and began reading down the middle of the street. "Guess that means you're going to open up shop again."

"Well I can't leave the shinobi of Konoha to go hungry now can I."

"You did before."

"Yea yea," said Naruto waving it off. "You going to put through a bid for the next Hokage?"

"No, having heard of how you fought with the previous kage there might be a possibility that you could be next in line for the hat." Naruto opened his mouth to retort but considered the very distinct possibility that having survived with the best of the best he could very shortly find himself beside them. "Still chances are that they would never make a Chunin a kage."

"Touche," said Naruto as the two of them stepped in front of the shop that Naruto had built up from scratch, the building looking far from the toast of Konoha. "She'll take a bit of spit and elbow polish but I'll have her up and running again sometime soon. It's as good a time as any to make some renovations."

"Going to knock it down and start again?" asked Kakashi turning towards the blonde.

"Might as well, don't reckon I'll be using shadow clones this time round, take it step by step nice and slow," said Naruto wondering how long it would take him to build the place with his hands alone. That being said it would become more likely than not that other ninja would help chuck their support behind him and help get the place up and going again.

"Well you're used to the slow tactic from what I've heard, if Jiraiya finding that girl in your bed is any indication," said Kakashi cheekily.

"Is she still alright?" asked Naruto wondering if Kin would have gotten mistaken for the enemy at some stage during the battle, from either side now that he thought about it.

"Not sure, better go check on her when you've got the chance," said Kakashi as he turned his head to find that Naruto had already rushed off to make sure that his house guest was still in his good books.

…

"Kin," shouted Naruto as he entered his apartment.

"In here," came her voice allowing Naruto to release a breath he didn't know that he'd been holding. Running his fingers through his hair he relaxed significantly as he walked through the passageway towards his bedroom where Kin's voice was coming from. Stepping into the area though alerted him to several things at once, mostly the handful of sake bottles that lay empty near the foot of the bed.

"Umm...Kin?" started Naruto but was quickly silenced as he stepped upon a seal, one that Jiraiya had laid earlier on in the day. "What the?" questioned Naruto as he found his limbs become heavy to the point where he couldn't lift his arm above his chest.

"I asked Jiraiya to make a special present for you, even if it's only temporary," said Kin as she stepped into view from the bathroom dressed only in her lingerie. "Since you were such a wonderful host to be it's only fair that I show you the same hospitality."

"Wait Kin," said Naruto but was quickly cut off as Kin stepped forward before slamming her lips upon his and the blonde could quickly smell the alcohol on her breath. Kin broke the kiss and smiled whilst licking her lips before giving Naruto a light push causing him to fall upon the bed.

Naruto chucked a glance towards the window praying that Jiraiya wasn't sitting on a branch somewhere with a telescope while scribbling down note after note. "Don't you like looking at me?" said Kin as her fingers slid underneath the hooks holding her bra in place before allowing the fabric to fall to her feet. The effect was instantaneous as it got the desired result, even if Naruto didn't want it to his penis quickly found itself heavily restrained against his pants as a bulge became clearly evident. "At least someone likes it," giggled Kin.

"Wait Kin, you don't want to do this," begged Naruto from his vulnerable position.

"I think that I do," said Kin with a smile as she bent down and quickly removed Naruto's pants and underwear away from his body. Kin looked up to see his penis standing upright and she quickly turned around as she found herself blushing slightly. This had all gone to plan in her head and while she had had the theory all down pat actually putting it into play quickly went askew.

Having never actually seen a penis before the sight of the member caused her to flush and she struggled to turn back around to face the blonde. "See, you don't have to do this," said Naruto wishing he could run out the door this very second. While many would gladly take this opportunity head on Naruto was less than keen.

"Oh, you don't think I can do this," said Kin putting her foot down as she turned around to look at the task ahead.

"Wait, that's not what I said," said Naruto but his words fell upon deaf ears as Kin's fingers pushed her panties away from her skin, allowing the fabric to fall to the floor. For several seconds she simply stood there as the realisation that she was completely nude in front of the blonde dawned over her.

It took all of her being not to turn around once more as she took a slow step towards where Naruto was and began crawling across the bed over where he lay. "Don't worry blondie, I'm sure you'll like this as much as I will," she said as she kissed Naruto's lips before sliding back, her folds slowly but surely enveloping Naruto's crotch.

While Kin winced in pain at the intrusion Naruto mind became completely blown about the fact that his virginity had literally just been raped out of him. That being said he couldn't help but enjoy the situation as Kin began to rock back and forth, slowly taking more and more of Naruto into her pussy as the pain began to fade and only pleasure remained. Her breasts, while not that big, began to sway mesmerisingly in front of Naruto's face as Kin closed her eyes.

"Oh," she moaned never having thought that this would feel so good as she began to pick up her pace. She could feel her juices begin to lubricate the cock inside of her and she was starting to hate herself for ever doubting that this would be a good idea.

Naruto meanwhile, while still hating the way this was going, was fully enjoying the situation as well as he attempted to arch his back to drive his penis in deeper. Kin dropper her weight on top of the blonde and vigorously began kissing at his cheeks and neck, wherever she could land her lips while never once slowing down her pace.

"Kami," she breathed lustfully as she picked up the pace, wanting more and more every second. She didn't know whether the alcohol was helping or hindering the situation but she was very keen to do this again once she was sober.

"Kin...I'm going to…" started Naruto but was cut off as Kin's lips slammed against his while she slid down, taking him all the way to the base. Kin's back arched upright as she felt her orgasm rack through her body while Naruto's cum heated up her privates. For several seconds she simply remained in the same position before she slumped forward, small driblets of sweat having formed on her body as she landed on top of Naruto.

"Kin, are you alright?" asked Naruto but was only given the response of light breathing, Kin literally having fallen asleep right after her orgasm. Naruto sighed and wished that he could rub his eyes at the situation. He couldn't decide whether to thank or castrate Jiraiya but that would have to wait for a while longer. Naruto didn't know when his limbs would once again respond to his command but if Kin hadn't woken by then chances were he wasn't going to move her off of his body.

He only prayed that somebody didn't decide to pop by for a visit anytime soon.

…

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Sorry for the delay, I've been in a different country for the past four months and haven't had regular computer access so writing has been quite a difficult task. Hopefully be able to bang out the next chapter sooner.**

**mfmxx: Keeping in mind that this was before the canon timeline it's plausible that Yugao would do such a thing.**

**I know most of you were probably expecting a major fight scene but I felt the need to keep pushing on otherwise I'd be getting nowhere fast.**

**Peace.**


	32. From the Ground Up

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

…

"Alright, I have no idea how all of you are here nor why you know that I'm actually in town, I can only imagine that somehow you heard from Kakashi or Jiraiya or somebody else who heard about my fight," stated Naruto as he stood in front of his broken down shop. Standing before him he could only imagine was about his entire regular customer list along with other people who had shown their support for him over the years. Including them stood the team from Suna he had bumped into roughly a month earlier and he couldn't help but notice that a fair few of the genin had chosen to place themselves as far away as possible from the Jinchuuriki.

"I may have said a couple of things," said Kakashi scratching at the side of his head. "Gai may or may not have then decided to shout them out."

"Of course he did," said Naruto rubbing his eyes. "So what you all here for?"

"Here to help of course," said Tenten as she swayed back and forth on her heels with her hands pulled behind her back.

"All you guys really want is a free bowl for helping out don't you," joked Naruto but was slightly disturbed by the number of people who failed at hiding their true intentions as they looked off to the side and whistled. "I see."

"I have heard of the deliciously that you produce here and won't return home until I have tasted it," stated Gaara, his voice as cold as always. During the battle that had unfolded the shinobi had refused to fight against the Konoha shinobi having stated to his siblings that he would not 'potentially harm a friend of his brother.' While Kankuro had continued to explain that he had no friends from Konoha Temari has smiled from nearby slightly understanding that her little brother had created a strong connection with somebody in the town. Little did she know that she completely misunderstood what his brother had said and while she may have been on the right track she had no idea of the actual truth.

"Alright, well considering we're all friends here and some perverted hermit decided to take a good chunk of my money," stated Naruto having found out that despite his message the white haired sage had just about robbed him blind, "I'm going to have to ask for you guys to chip in a bit."

"For our favorite eating establishment, that shouldn't be too much hassle," said Choza Akamichi, patting his belly as he did so. "I'm sure we will be able to come to a suitable agreement."

"Seems I'm going to have to be writing up some coupon booklets out, either that or I could just state that for the first week of business everything is half price," said Naruto getting a round of applause for his statement.

"Does that include you?"

While nobody could a actually pinpoint where the voice had come from it had a good number of the shinobi present laughing at the statement. A few of the girls though had turned their attention downwards to avoid showing off their embarrassment at the statement.

"If you can find my price tag we'll discuss special discounts," said Naruto in a joking manner which continued to get the shinobi nearby to continue their laughter. As the crowd quietened down Naruto reached downwards and picked up a sledgehammer he had purchased for the occasion. While it wouldn't take any more than a few jutsu to take down the establishment he had wanted to do this properly and take it down with nothing but his hands and tools alone. Now that he had pretty much half the shinobi force supporting him the job would get done a whole lot quicker but he wasn't going to change his tact in anyway.

Tapping the metallic end in his hand he looked at the task at hand. "Let's get this party started," he said with a smile before taking a massive swing at the wall. Once everybody else decided to get in on the fun the building lasted no longer than twenty seconds.

…

Kin sat awkwardly within the confines of the bedroom she had come to call her home. While she now had free reign around the rest of the house her former prison had a much more cozy feel to it.

Rubbing her knees together, she recalled the actions she had done the previous night and couldn't help but blush ever so slightly at the thought. Even despite the copious amounts of alcohol that she had drunk she could still clearly remember what she had done quite clearly. That morning had been awkward enough when she had awoken under the sheets of the bed still completely nude. She wasn't quite sure where the blonde was or what he was doing but he clearly had put her underneath the sheets as she was fairly certain she had fallen asleep on top of them and possibly Naruto as well. When she had gotten out of bed she had found the house otherwise unoccupied except for herself and she had to thank her stars as she wasn't quite sure how to approach Naruto at this stage. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Naruto but after having effectively raped him she didn't know quite how to confront him.

"How'd it go?" asked Jiraiya as he walked through the passageway towards the bedroom, Kin not even having heard the sage come in.

"Umm...well…" started Kin unsure how to proceed with the question she had been given. While it would be embarrassing to say the least had it not been for the seal that Jiraiya had placed on the floor she would never have gotten to do what she had done.

"C'mon, I helped you out now didn't I," said Jiraiya trying to coerce as much information out of the girl as possible.

"Before that, I found this note on the table addressed to you," said Kin leaning over to the bedside table and picked up the piece of paper. Not wanting to get on either Naruto or Jiraiya's bad side she had refrained from reading the message. Holding it up for the white haired man, Jiraiya couldn't help but be a little cautious as he took the paper knowing full well that Naruto could have planted anything as payback.

Sliding his fingers between the folded piece of paper, Jiraiya opened it up to reveal two sentences.

'_I'll probably thank you for last night many years from now. Think of asking Kin for details and I will castrate you.'_

Jiraiya couldn't help but chuckle at the note before he folded it up and put it into his back pocket.

"So I guess it all started…" began Kin before the elderly man stopped her in her tracks.

"You know what, don't worry about it," said Jiraiya waving it off, knowing full well that Naruto would go through with his threat. "Just glad I could help. Anyways I should be off, important business to take care of and all that. I'll need to talk to Inoichi about getting you through a mind reading so that your status as a Konoha ninja can be completed. I'll be back tomorrow then."

Turning around he began to walk down the passageway away from the bedroom before stopping as Kin spoke up behind him. "Jiraiya-sama," she said allowing the pervert to turn his head to see that she was standing before she bowed towards him. "Thank you, for everything," she said with her face still pointed towards the floor.

"Anytime," said Jiraiya as he resumed his way towards the exit. "Just be careful of the others."

"Others?" repeated Kin but the sage had already left the building leaving her to ponder over what he had just said.

…

To most people watching the spectacle they wouldn't have been able to see much more than a blur as ninjas of all ages and ranks deconstructed Naruto's old shop only for the new ramen store to be built in it's place. Beforehand with the help of the Nara clan, as troublesome as it was to get any help from them whatsoever, Naruto had quickly made some blueprints that would allow the ramen shop to expand and as such more clients could be on site at any given point. While this had been occurring half of the ninja who had been present had taken it upon themselves to remove the remnants of the old shop while the rest had gone deep into town to pick up a mix of supplies and tools so that construction could begin.

Naruto turned his attention away from the construction sight and turned towards the rooftop where he could see his fellow Jinchuuriki staring into the distance. Leaping up to join him he was surprised that Gaara was actually the first one to speak.

"How goes the reconstruction?" he asked as he continued to stare out into the distance.

"Well considering this morning I was pretty sure that I'd be doing this job by myself, I'm about three weeks ahead of schedule and we've only been at it for about an hour," said Naruto as he surveyed the site. "Guess I have to thank you for not slaughtering my customers."

"You were the person who showed me that there was more than hatred in this world," said Gaara still gazing into the abyss. "For that I consider you my friend and as your friend I believe that it would be inappropriate of me to kill your comrades. If you believe that I have made an incorrect assumption I can rectify the problem."

"You made the right choice," said Naruto hoping that his new shop walls wouldn't be bathed in blood. "Anyways, as your friend there's something I need to tell you."

"And that would be?" asked Gaara finally turning to face the blonde.

"The Akatsuki," said Naruto, his voice stern and serious. "They are a group of 'S' ranked missing nin who are hunting down Jinchuuriki. One of these ninja is Uchiha Itachi, the older and much stronger brother of the guy who broke through your sand only two days ago. To put it simply, if you see anybody wearing black robes with red clouds, they're the enemy."

Gaara wanted to voice out how he was vastly superior to anybody who tried to kill him but after having been injured twice in the one month by mere Genin he knew better than to assume that he would be safe against the skills of S ranked criminals. "Is there anything else you could tell me about them?" asked Gaara, wanting to get as much information as he could.

"If I knew anymore I'd tell you," said Naruto running his fingers through his hair. "It's kind of scary not having any more info but a little is better than none."

"I see," said Gaara. "I will heed your word of warning and increase my own strength so that when these men come to attack they will not succeed."

"That's the spirit," said Naruto patting Gaara on the shoulder.

"I suggest that you focus your attention on the construction you are meant to be monitoring, I believe that some of your allies are not following the instructions you have given them," stated Gaara.

"Aw shit," muttered Naruto as he leapt down to the street to ensure that everything got back on track. Meanwhile Gaara turned his attention back to the Hokage monument he had been staring at previously, their faces etched into history upon stone itself and couldn't help but wonder.

…

Sasuke overlooked the files his accountant had amassed for him during his time training for the Chunin exams. He was thankful that he had hired someone to take care of his finances while he was gone and more likely than not he would keep them on full time. While he could easily slip back into the roll he had more pressing things to worry about, such as the seal that Orochimaru had shoved upon his shoulder.

Rubbing the tender spot, Sasuke leant back on his desk chair before rubbing his eyes, the numbers seemingly getting too much for him. Pushing himself away from the desk the last Uchiha in Konoha looked out the nearby window at the rowdiness of the streets. An unusual amount of shinobi were present and he knew exactly why. He would have to have a talk with his business partner at a later date, hopefully he would be able to provide some insight on some other manners.

While training with Kakashi had been helpful in it's own right (and likely without it he would have been killed in his fight against Gaara) he felt like he needed competition, somebody he could compare himself with. He would have asked with Lee for assistance in upping his Taijutsu but with the boy still recovering in hospital it was unlikely he could be of any service. He could always ask Neji for a friendly spar if anything.

Rubbing his fingers through his hair he knew he had to find someway to counteract the seal which seeped on his chakra. While he was alright using small bursts, the moment his chakra reserves dropped he was in for a lot of trouble. He needed to find a solution to this problem otherwise not only would it be detrimental for himself out on missions but his team would also be put at risk. Taking a moment for a sigh to escape his lips, he looked out onto the gaming floor to see that it was relatively desolate like it was most days during the week, only during the night did the place really shine. There was one customer he had been informed that had been coming in on a regular basis and he figured that maybe one of the other Sannin would have a solution for him.

…

Tenten sat upon the rooftop, her attention as far away from the rebuilding of the ramen shop as possible. While she had heard that morning that many of the shinobi were going to head over to give Naruto a hand, she had isolated herself from the reconstruction and simply chose to watch the clouds float by. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Naruto again, but when he had simply vanished from right in front of her all those weeks ago it was as if she had been abandoned.

She knew there was more likely than not some reason behind Naruto's disappearance but at the same time for him to simply up and go like that without a single word left her feeling alone. One week after he'd gone missing Tenten had broken into his house and simply gone into his bed and imagined that he was there to cuddle up against. She hadn't been able to sleep that night.

Pushing herself to her feet, Tenten leapt off towards one of the training grounds, having the sudden urge to pummel something.

…

"Where is he, where is he?" questioned the girl as she walked through some of the scummiest places Konoha had to offer. Having already taken care of two thugs who thought themselves top shit she had found herself standing in front of a good chunk of the crowd that had watched her perform in the Chunin exams. Pushing past several shinobi twice her size she found the person she was looking for.

Thankfully Naruto was not really doing anything at the time when he felt a tiny hand grab his forearm and before he knew it he was being dragged away from the building by a small yet firm grasp. Leading the blonde down an isolated alleyway the two finally came to a stop as the girl tried to look down at Naruto despite being half a foot shorter.

"Hey Hanabi," said Naruto before getting a slap across the face. "Probably deserved that one."

"That one was from me," said Hanabi sternly before slapping Naruto again with twice the force of the last one. "That one was for my sister."

"I could ask you what those were about but I'm pretty sure I know," said Naruto as he rubbed his tender cheek. "Something along the lines of, 'you promised you'd train us for the Chunin exams and simply run off without even saying goodbye.' Am I close?"

"For me, yes," said Hanabi having been infuriated at Naruto for having dragged her into a shinobi team years before she should have been only to leave her fending for herself. "My sister though took it harder, believing that it was all her fault for your disappearance."

"Trust me, your sister had nothing to do with it," assured Naruto.

"But how were we supposed to know that?" asked Hanabi. "My sister blames herself and you're going to make it up to her."

"Wait...what?"

"I'm not finished," declared Hanabi putting her foot down. "I don't care what you do, take her to the movies or somewhere nice for dinner but you are going to do it and you will do it properly like a gentleman should."

"A gentleman," repeated Naruto with uncertainty in his voice.

"Quiet," snapped Hanabi, clearly having not finished her rant. "After that, I want to resume our training, both me and Hinata, to make up for the time that we were meant to be training with you originally. Am I understood?"

"Umm…"

"Good, I expect to see you outside the clan household this evening at sunset. Do not be late."

With that the petite but dominant form of Hanabi stormed away, leaving Naruto completely baffled at what had just happened. "The hell?" he said after several seconds of silence realising he had just been manhandled by somebody nearly half his age.

…

"So what's in it for me?" said the blonde woman looking at Sasuke with focused eyes.

"You help me learn how to fight without any risk of triggering this seal on my neck and I'll remove your debt," declared the Uchiha knowing that he was potentially removing a seven figure sum from his establishment.

"All of it?" questioned the woman, making sure that there was no hidden strings attached.

As if to make his point, Sasuke pulled out a piece of paper which contained a quite detailed list of monetary funds that the woman already owed his business. Placing both of his hands at the centre, he pulled gently creating a little tear in it.

"You've got yourself a deal," said the woman allowing Sasuke to completely tear the paper in two and reduce the lady's debt to a clean slate. "Shizune, take him off to one of the fields and give him a run through."

"Wait, the deal was that you'd teach me," said Sasuke feeling irked at what this woman had just suggested.

"And I will once Shizune here informs me of your strengths and weaknesses," said Tsunade with a smile. "You however just wiped my slate so I'm going to work myself into the green this lovely afternoon."

"C'mon Sasuke," ushered Shizune still clutching onto Tonton. "It's useless to fight against her when she's in this mood."

"If you say so," said Sasuke with a shrug of the shoulders, realising that he'd have to prove himself to the Sannin's aide before being able to train with Tsunade herself. He'd just have to take it one step at a time.

…

"He should have been back by now," muttered Kin wondering where Naruto was. The sun was just about to set over the horizon and she hadn't even seen the boy throughout the entire day. She wasn't willing to simply wander the streets looking for him as Jiraiya, while having told her that she would be a Konoha nin, still needed to have certain procedures done in order for her to join the ranks. As such, she was still technically a ninja from Sound and with the battle that just took place she doubted that she'd survive the night.

Kin had spent a good part of the day bracing herself for her eventual confrontation with Naruto and now that she had her plan down pat it seemed as if she'd wasted her time since the blonde hadn't made an appearance as of yet. She wondered whether or not it was because of her actions that Naruto was deliberately avoiding her and would spend the next several days hiding so there was no possibility of another night of sex.

Hearing the door open, Kin braced herself for what was about to come as she stood at the ready, silently awaiting for Naruto to come to her. The person who had walked through the entrance however wasn't the blonde in question but a brown haired girl with buns in her hair who starred fixated at the girl from Sound.

"I can explain," said Kin putting her hands up defensively hoping that she wasn't attacked or anything.

As for Tenten, the girl had come to Naruto's place wanting an explanation out of the blonde as to why he had been away so long. To find a supposed enemy standing in the middle of his house hadn't quite been what she had been expecting and with her determination to get some answers a twisted grin crossed her face as she figured that this girl could give some to her.

…

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**It's only been a few days since the last update but since I made you guys wait so long last time I decided that you deserved another chapter.**

**Peace**


	33. Calm Before the Shitstorm

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Standing awkwardly outside the front gate of the Hyūga compound was one Uzumaki Naruto dressed in some nice casual clothes that he had borrowed from his business partner in Uchiha Sasuke. While he had had a suit back home he could only imagine what kind of devilish plan Kin would contact with the knowledge that he was not only going to be away much longer than she probably expected but also out on a date with another woman after they had shared a bed together the prior night. Needless to say it wouldn't be pretty. Speaking of the other woman.

Standing opposite Naruto looking equally as awkward with the situation in front of them was Hyūga Hinata with her younger sister standing beside her making sure that nothing went wrong with the evening. Neither party had spoke of yet and Hinata couldn't help but feel that she was overdressed for the occasion. Seemingly Hanabi was not going to be taking no for an answer from everybody today as once the young girl had gotten Naruto into the date she had taken her sister from shop to shop looking for the best attire for the night. After visiting several places Hinata had come away with a stunning jade coloured dress that hugged her figure perfectly while a thick belt held the dress to her waist. A golden necklace adorned her neck with a small sapphire pendent while she wore standard black dress shoes that were mostly hidden underneath the length of the dress. A single word that came to the mind of many who saw the display would say 'stunning.' Naruto however was never one who could be classified as part of the 'many.'

"Aren't you going to say something?" asked Hanabi getting sick of the uncomfortable silence that hung between the two of them. Wasn't dating something simple? The boy told the girl how pretty they looked before the two of them walked down the street hand in hand.

"You look nice," said Naruto rubbing the back of his head, struggling to get the conversation off the ground.

Hinata merely rubbed her knees nervously in response, thinking that she was too dressed up for the occasion. Comparing her own attire to that which Naruto was wearing made it look like the blonde haired boy was severely underdressed despite how nice his clothes would have looked in any other scenario.

Once again the silence in the air was unwanted by the youngest member of the trio who quickly spoke up. "I made reservations for the two of you to go have dinner at Marianna's Boutique Restaurant and you need to be there within twenty minutes to make sure that your table isn't sold off to the highest bidder. Go now if you don't want that to happen."

"You're being really pushy about this aren't you," said Naruto turning his attention to the little firecracker. He was well aware of how hard it was to get a table at such a high class restaurant but all Hanabi really needed to have done was wave the 'Hyūga' card and some pore soul would have had their table they booked months prior stripped from them.

Seeing the angry look upon Hanabi's face made Naruto chuckle slightly as the young girl was clearly getting more and more frustrated by the second. He offered his palm out for Hinata while bowing slightly. "Shall we my lady?" he asked trying to sound as suave as possible if only to break the ice.

"I...If you say so," said Hinata as she reached forward to take the offered hand but Naruto pulled just out of range at the last second.

"That's not how you respond, I believe it should be more along the lines of, 'Of course,' or 'Lead the way,'" said Naruto as he stretched his arm out once again.

A small smile graced Hinata's lips before she extended her arm and took Naruto's hand with her own. "Indeed we shall," she said with a bit more confidence surrounding her despite her normally shy demeanour. Yet this was the person who had seen her in a green spandex outfit a month earlier that would have most men's libido roaring, this night should be a cakewalk in comparison.

"Do you want me to bring her home tonight or are those cards still on the table?" asked Naruto of Hanabi, acting as if she was an overbearing father. He couldn't help but wonder if Hiashi had put her up to this role for the evening.

Hanabi seemed to blush wildly at the statement as her imagination suddenly span into overdrive. Her mouth opened and closed several times which caused Hinata to giggle slightly to see the dumbfounded look upon her younger siblings face. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of her," said Naruto over his shoulder as he and Hinata commenced on their date.

"You're cruel you know that," said Hinata once they were out of earshot, seemingly becoming more comfortable with the whole scenario.

"So nothing out of the normal then," chuckled Naruto. "Before we head off to dinner, is there somewhere we can go first. I've been putting it off for a while and now seems as good a time as any."

"Of course," said Hinata as she allowed herself to be lured away from the restaurant knowing that they'd be going back later. Yet as they shared cheerful chatter amongst one another Hinata realised that they were going further and further away from anywhere near the correct district. "Where are we going?"

"Don't worry, we're here," announced Naruto as they came to a stop, right outside of the graveyard. Hinata paled having no idea what to think at this situation but felt a comforting hand land on her shoulder. "Could you wait here a minute, I've got to go say goodbye to somebody."

"O...Okay," said Hinata slowly realising that it was possible that Naruto had lost somebody precious during the invasion that the Sand and Sound had launched on the village and knew that it was probably better just to allow Naruto to go do this by himself.

Walking slowly, Naruto browsed past the numerous tombstones, not truly paying attentions to the names of those engraved upon the stone. His thoughts however were focused on the recently erected grave, one that had no less than a hundred flowers surrounding the base.

"Hey gramps," said Naruto looking over the display that had been put up for the Sandaime. He knew that the service for the Hokage had been the previous day but he hadn't wanted to show his face during that time. Part of him believed that had he not stopped his strict ninja training so long ago then he may have had a better chance against Orochimaru. "Don't think this means that I've forgiven you or anything but I guess for everything over the years I have to say...thanks."

Naruto looked towards the sky and he figured that if this was a movie of some kind rain would slowly start to drizzle from the clouds floating high above. "You helped me when I was younger and I tried to do my best by allowing you to command me as one of your shinobi, but as you know now not everything turns out the way it was meant to. If I had given you an explanation earlier then perhaps you wouldn't have had to have had Ayame keeping tabs on me and I probably would have burst into tears during the ceremony yesterday. Shit happens though, and more importantly it happens for a reason."

"As much as I'd like to say that I forgive you, I'm sure that you're aware I can't do anything of the sort, at least not yet," said Naruto with a shrug of the shoulders. "One day down the track maybe but who knows. That being said I still, and probably always will, admire you and thank you for what you did for me throughout my life. I imagine if Danzo or somebody had taken up the reigns after the Fourth then my life would have been a whole lot shitter. So thanks again."

Twisting on the spot, Naruto turned his back on the grave and looked towards where Hinata fidgeted awkwardly near the edge of the graveyard. "I'll try to make sure your grandson doesn't make an ass of himself when he comes to grab something to eat from mine one day," said Naruto absentmindedly as he began to walk away. "I don't expect to come back anytime soon but knowing you, you'd tell me to keep pushing forward and not look back. I'll try to keep that in mind."

No more was said as the distance between Naruto and the grave extended further and further until the shrine was out of sight and he once more stood by Hinata's side. "Sorry about that," he apologized.

"It's quite alright," said Hinata as she couldn't help but wonder who Naruto had gone to visit. She didn't want to inquire into anything too personal as the last thing she wanted was to say something inappropriate.

"Anyways we better hurry, we wouldn't want Hanabi's booking to go to waste," said Naruto who offered his hand for Hinata, this time the Hyūga girl not hesitating in the slightest to take his hand in her own as the two walked down the street.

...

Sakura struggled to believe her eyes as she watched the scene displayed before her. She had been on her way to go see how Sasuke was going since according to rumours he had been in a brutal fight with the apprentice of one of the Sannin and had come out second best.

That was now pushed to the back of her mind however as she looked at both Hinata and Naruto sitting in the middle of one of the fanciest places in town with a window seat that showed those that looked inside that they were having a great time. Sakura watched as an Akamichi woman came forward delivering two meals to the couple before she and Naruto shared a joke which had Hinata giggle slightly. Sakura was well aware that the Akamichi woman was one of the best chefs in town (hence why her place of business was always so busy) but by the way she chatted with Naruto Sakura couldn't help but assume that they had traded information with one another somewhere down the line.

The pink haired Genin couldn't help but feel somewhat jealous at the scene before her and wondered if she had been just that little bit bolder on the trip to and from Wave then it would be her who was sitting opposite Naruto. Sure she had been a bit preoccupied with the whole 'Ino's potentially a lesbian with the hots for me thing' but she had practically wasted a golden opportunity by the campfire.

Now that everything had been cleared up however she was not going to allow Hinata to one up her anymore than she already had. Leaping up onto the rooftops, Sakura made it her mission for the night to make sure that this night ended with no more than a gentle kiss on the cheek rather than something else entirely. If, and it was a big if, Naruto invited Sakura back to his house then she would simply pop by moments later and say that she decided to pop by and say hi since she hadn't really seen him properly for the better part of a month.

Sinking into the shadows, Sakura began her reconnaissance missions knowing that this was definitely something that she would be sure not to fail. This was her chance to show that the unofficial race to become Naruto's girlfriend was far from over.

...

"That was a wonderful night," said Hinata affectionately. She imagined it wasn't quite what her sister had imagined the night would have gone considering the whole detour to the graveyard thing but it had been enjoyable nonetheless.

"Yea it was fun," said Naruto actually happy that something hadn't gone terribly wrong with the evening. It wasn't really like he had had a plan anyways so for it to actually function the way it had was a great relief.

"Could...Could I come back to your place for a bit?" asked Hinata timidly as she turned her attention away from the blonde haired teen.

"What?" said Naruto in disbelief unsure of just what he had heard.

"There's something I want to ask you in private," said Hinata still avoiding eye contact. Despite the instance that occurred nearly three months where they had shared an intimate moment within the confines of Tsunami's bathroom. She also recalled that both Sakura and herself had tried to pry some information out of Naruto but one thing lead to another and neither of the girls were any clearer into knowing what they wanted to know.

"Isn't there somebody else we could go," said Naruto knowing just what was waiting for him back home in the form of Kin. Considering what he was wearing if he rocked up by himself then the he could create some bullshit about how he'd had a night on the town with the boys and hopefully Kin would believe him. With Hinata in his arm however...

"Please," said Hinata as she finally turned her attention towards him, her eyes begging him to do this for her.

While Naruto could stand against S ranked missing nin and his nerves would remain steeled, the look that Hinata gave him broke through his defence like nothing else could have. Warning alarms were signalling in his head that this could not end well in any scenario but he wasn't going to be a horrendous person and simply say no without giving a reason.

"My place is filthy, I wouldn't want your dress to get dirty," lied Naruto hoping to dissuade Hinata. Sadly his plan had little to no effect.

"I don't mind," said Hinata brushing the comment off listening to the change in Naruto's voice. Was there something at his house that he didn't want her to see since the last time she had been there? That being said that night had ended with drinks and laughter along with Ino making out with Sakura so there was the possibility that something similar could happen. Needless to say she wouldn't mind. "Anyways I need to use the bathroom and your place is much closer than mine and I will not take no for an answer."

Naruto couldn't really understand why Hinata had decided to put her foot down but he conceded that even if he didn't invite the well dressed girl back to his house she would likely rock up on her own accord for some reason or another. As much as he'd like to be able to talk his way out of this chances were that shit was going to hit the fan either now or later. Releasing a sigh, Naruto decided that he'd rather get this shit storm over and done with now rather than suffer the consequences later.

"Alright then, but don't say that I didn't warn you," said Naruto as his shoulders slumped ever so slightly that it went relatively unnoticed. As the duo started making their way towards Naruto's home they were unaware of the pink haired girl watching from the shadows.

It didn't take them long to get to Naruto's house, the blonde boy in question setting a reasonable pace as he simply wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible. Barely two minutes had passed before the duo found themselves in front of Naruto's house with Sakura still watching from her place upon the rooftops.

Neither of the girls noticed a smile creep across Naruto's lips as he observed that the lights in the house were off, creating the possibility that Kin had already decided to go to sleep for the night. Provided that was the case then all he had to do was make sure that Hinata didn't go to the bedroom and he could end up in a rather good scenario.

Opening the door, he allowed Hinata to enter before closing the door behind them then reaching through the darkness to find the light switch. Both Naruto and Hinata had to shield their eyes slightly as they got accustomed to the change from darkness but quickly found themselves mildly disturbed by the scene in front of them. Tied to a chair was Kin with several thick ropes ensuring that the former sound ninja couldn't move at all. Not only that but a ribbon had been forced into her mouth lightly gagging the girl. Naruto's eyes quickly picked up just where he had seen the ribbon before, it had been the first birthday present he had ever given somebody and it had occurred only the previous year.

"Well, here I was thinking that you'd simply up and left the village again," said Tenten sitting in another chair nearby clearly in a sour mood from having waited so long for the blonde haired teen to arrive.

"Tenten," said Naruto slowly wondering just why the weapons wielder was here. Needless to say if he thought that the scenario beforehand where it would have been just Kin, Hinata and himself was bad, adding Tenten to the fray just made everything so much worse. Sadly that wasn't the end of Naruto's troubles as the door behind him opened to reveal Sakura standing there with a happy smile across her lips.

"Hey Naruto, I just saw your lights switch on and decided to..." Sakura didn't finish her statement as she slowly observed all of the people in the room and wondered just what she had walked in on.

Yep, Naruto's night had just gone from bad to shitstorm.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Bit on the short side I know but I couldn't really end it any other way.**

**Peace.**


	34. A Little Alone Time

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Ino was walking back from work, her bunny outfit stored away in the locker within her work locker. While at first she had been disturbed by the prospect of wearing something so revealing like some back street hooker now she had taken a liking to it, and not only because it gave her a massive amount of tips.

"Hey kid where ya going?" asked an older female ninja from nearby which caught Ino's attention.

"Just knocked off for the day Anko," said Ino as she recognised the snake mistress. "Going to head home, put up my feet and soak in the tub."

"Just before that though I've got something to show ya," said Anko as she waved the younger girl towards her.

"I'd rather you not try and molest me again," said Ino recalling the instant that had happened earlier in the month.

"I hadn't had my weekly 'blonde' dose, I may have gone a bit overboard," chuckled Anko as she placed a hand behind her neck, rubbing it awkwardly. "Now that chef boy's back you don't have to worry about me doing anything silly, unless you want me to of course."

"If you say so," said Ino visibly relaxing. "But I thought...you know...you didn't swing that way."

"I don't, but it's more the company he gives more than anything," said Anko as her smile waned ever so slightly before she perked back up. "Anyways that's enough idle chit chat, it's time I take you to my for a few drinks, my way of saying that I'm sorry for what may have occurred."

"Isn't this just going to be the normal shinobi bar?" asked Ino.

"Nope this one's pretty special," said Anko sticking her tongue out. "It's one of those places where if you don't know where it is you'll never find it."

For the gossip queen of Konoha, something like this was practically a gold mine of information and she wanted it. "Lead the way," she said waving her hand, thinking that the tips she had received this evening would come in handy much sooner than expected. Little did she know that if she had continued walking in the direction she had been going she may have been able to overhear the commotion going on in her boss' business partner's house.

...

Naruto looked at the four girls who sat before him, each of them with their eyes boring into his skull. Each of them with their own reasons for being there and he had concluded that instead of running at the time that it would be easier just to face his punishment now as opposed to later. That and the four girls had managed to restrain him with the rope that had previously bound Kin. He could have escaped anytime that he wanted but considering that Kin had been in such a predicament he had to do something to make sure that Tenten's rage didn't turn towards the former member of sound.

Speaking of Kin, the black haired Genin sat awkwardly in her chair keeping her attention as far as possible from any of the other people within the room. Even though she was no longer bound and gagged she was still as silent as before knowing that a single word could cause a catastrophe in itself. The clothes Naruto and Hinata wore immediately gave away the impression that the two of them had been on a date that evening. For the week she had lived with him, the last thing she would have predicted was that the night after she gave her virginity to him he would be courting another woman but she wasn't going to throw any accusations at this point as she was still awaiting a clear verdict on what was quite going on.

Sakura was only prevented from leaping across from her seating position and strangling Kin due to the fact that Hinata was strategically placed in between them. The Genin hadn't been quite sure how the night would have gone with just her and Hinata along with Naruto in the same room, perhaps it would have given them some answers that they had tried to secure back in Wave but those thoughts were pushed to the back of her mind for the moment. When her eyes had fallen upon Kin, her brain quickly recalled the advice she had given the Sound ninja back during that night in the bar and while she couldn't remember it word for word she knew the type of advice she had given. Had she known that it was Naruto Kin was going to go after she would never have mentioned anything. This also raised another point being that if Naruto had been in town all this time why didn't he come and visit or say hello at all. While she knew the answers would likely come in time, chances were that this was the moment she would be getting them; one way or another.

Hinata sat in silence nervously, her index fingers circling one another with her full attention focused on the floor by her feet. While she had helped in the restraining of Naruto, even though the blonde had put up little resistance, she by no means had wanted the night to end like this after such a nice date. She somehow believed that the night would have ended on a sour note considering that the girl from the sound village was here, Hinata had concluded that that was the reason as to why Naruto had been so keen on keeping the Hyūga heiress away from his house. Hinata doubted that Tenten had been invited there and wondered as to why the older girl was there in the first place but her shyness was getting the better of her in this scenario and she was scared to say the first words.

Tenten was the only one not sitting on a chair around the table, rather using the table itself as a chair in this scenario, whether because it made her feel like she was in more power than the others or not she wasn't sure. Out of the four of them, Tenten had known Naruto for the longest and while she hadn't found him attractive at first after daily visits to the ramen shop that he operated she had found herself growing attached to him. Most nights that she had spent in his bed she had silently prayed that he would say something, anything that indicated that the feelings she had been growing weren't simply one way. She had even spent the first week that Naruto had gone mission curled up in his bed, stroking the sheets which he usually slept under. Tenten would close her eyes and hope that when she opened them again Naruto would be safely by her side and everything would be as it was. Needless to say on those nights she had gotten very little sleep.

"Soo...umm...what are we all doing here?" asked Naruto as he fidgeted slightly within his confinements. While he knew why Kin and Hinata were here he hadn't expected Sakura to just 'happen' to come by at that exact moment or did he know as to why Tenten had decided to make herself at home.

"Well Naruto, why don't you tell us about Kin here and why she was patiently waiting for you like a good little puppy?" asked Tenten, her eyes darting towards the girl in question. Had Kin been insulted in such a way while she was still a sound ninja she would have gotten to her feet and struck Tenten across the face. Now all she did however was send a small glare in her direction.

"Well before you guys go and get any ideas about why a member of the country that just invaded us is currently residing in my house, after tomorrow she'll be a fully fledged member of Konoha," explained Naruto which allowed the tension in the room to drop ever so slightly. "So yea, don't go thinking she's an enemy or anything."

While his words had had some merit behind them, while Kin wasn't necessarily an enemy of Konoha that didn't mean that she was an enemy in another sense of the word. "Well that doesn't really explain why she's here of all places," said Sakura trying to put the pressure back on Naruto.

"Well I came back to town a little over a week ago," explained Naruto knowing that all of the girls were going to be reading in between the lines of everything that he said. "I really just came back just to grab some funds and watch the Chūnin exams before I headed off again. I was doing my best to just stay hidden but after a couple of days of boredom I decided to head out and have a night on the town. Putting on a disguise so that I wasn't recognised by any of the locals I went out for a drink and ran into Kin and it all went from there."

"So just what happened after you two met up?" asked Sakura, pushing this question not at Naruto but rather Kin.

"Well..." started Kin, her voice soft as she rubbed her knees against one another nervously knowing that all eyes were now focused on her. "Back in Otogakure, no matter what I did I always did it wrong and I was never good enough. Naruto though praised me for the simplest of things and it made me feel strange, it was nothing I'd ever felt before. I had a sense of pride in myself and I was so happy."

Everybody could see that tears had begun to form in Kin's eyes and that every word she was saying was completely truthful. "Come morning I found myself a hostage as Naruto wouldn't let me out of his house due to the fact he didn't want anybody to believe that he was still in town," continued Kin. "While I hated him for this at first, as days went by I couldn't help but be thankful that I'd been given a chance to not be ridiculed and hated. Plus had I still been a member of Sound a couple days ago chances are that my body would have been lying there on the battlefield alongside the other people from my country so I guess I owe Naruto my life in that regard."

Having no more to say, Kin became quiet as everybody else allowed the words to sink in. Tenten immediately knew what Kin was talking about, Naruto just always seemed to have a good way with words and she imagined that if things were half as bad as Kin had made them out to be, to feel special for the first time would be something amazing. She looked back on her first experience when she had met Naruto. The former apprentice of Kakashi had been asked to take on Neji and had managed to knock him off his high horse pretty quickly. Needless to say that after Neji had been humiliatingly defeated, Lee had wanted a shot as well and he as well had been taken care of in short notice. It had been that Gai had suggested that Tenten have a shot at taking down Naruto but at the time she had been afraid to do so. She was nowhere near as skilled as Neji and Lee was just well...Lee. When she had taken the battlefield she could have been brought down within seconds but Naruto toyed with her but throughout the entire contest he had been giving her words of encouragement to try and help her forward. Once the fight had been brought to a close, Naruto offered a little one on one spar later without prying eyes hindering her performance. That had been a battle she was happy to lose.

"So...did you two...kiss?" asked Hinata who still struggled to make eye contact with anybody. While the question was valid it still went to show the level of innocence that Hinata had.

Kin saw this however as a chance to get a one up on the girls and a cheeky grin spread across her face. "Before I say anything, I want you all to promise me that you won't hurt me in any way," said Kin lifting up her hands in a sign of peace because she knew what she was about to say could potentially end up being very painful. Although reluctantly the other girls agreed allowing Kin to continue, "I slept with Naruto last night."

Had it not been for the promises made only seconds earlier chances were that all that would have remained of Kin was a corpse if the devilish looks she got from Hinata was anything to go by. The Hyūga heiress was doing her best to restrain herself, her face red not from embarrassment but rather from anger. Tenten's attention was on Naruto and wondered how Kin had managed after one week what she had been able to do after so many months. Sakura however...was doing her best to become invisible.

"Did you really have to go say that?" said Naruto who hung his head in shame. He silently prayed that when Jiraiya had put in the seal that had temporarily bound him the previous day that he hadn't put in some other seals that were currently recording the scene before him.

"What, shouldn't I be happy that I was your first," said Kin trying to keep this hierarchy that had seemingly developed.

"Actually..." said Sakura just loud enough to get everybody's attention, "I...I was Naruto's first..."

Several seconds went by as crickets chirped in the distance as the few words that had been spoken started to settle in. "WHAT!"

"Well...it was a while ago now," said Sakura as she looked away from everybody knowing that the three girls around her now probably wanted to turn their rage towards her. "When I was going out with Ino, I suddenly found Naruto kissing me and it was magical. That night we slept together and only in the morning was I told that Ino had been controlling Naruto's body during that time."

A sigh escaped Naruto's lips having thought something like that might have happened. He still remembered how Ino had stated how big he had felt along with how she had made out with Sakura while his consciousness was out of it. Ino had never said how far she and Sakura had gotten but that cat was now out of the bag. Turns out he didn't lose his virginity through rape but rather he hadn't even had control of his own actions.

"That doesn't count," declared Hinata whose knuckles had gone white with seeming rage.

"Come on you two, let's go out and have a drink for a little while," said Tenten as she indicated to both Sakura and Kin to join her. "While I've got some questions to ask Naruto myself I reckon we can come back in an hour or two, that should give Hinata enough time to level the playing field."

"What!" shouted Sakura and Kin as they both stood up in defiance while the redness in Hinata's cheeks now belonged to embarrassment once again. They didn't get too far in their argument however as both found themselves being pulled on by the ear painfully, Tenten seemingly playing the older sister roll at the moment. While the kunoichi would love to crawl into bed with Naruto herself, considering that Hinata had been on a date with the blonde it only seemed fair that she be the one who got some action tonight.

There would be other times.

Opening the door, Tenten dragged out both Kin and Sakura before closing the door and leaving both Hinata and Naruto alone. Silence seemed to reign over them as Hinata pondered over the opportunity that she had just been given while Naruto knew that if he said a single thing out of place it could only end up worse. Though considering the two times he had had sex so far was when he was unconscious and was raped, he didn't know quite how worse it could be.

Without a word, Hinata got out of her chair before pouring herself a glass of water, timidly sipping at the liquid as Naruto wondered just what was going through Hinata's mind. Placing the empty glass on the table, she breathed in deeply before walking around to where Naruto was still bound. The blonde quickly tried to struggle against his restraints but as Hinata's eyes showed that she had her Byakugan activated it could not be a good sign. Four quick strikes rendered his arms useless and prevented him from struggling further as her eyes returned to normal.

"Now now Hinata, don't do anything you'll regret," said Naruto as small beads of sweat began to form on his brow. He was unable to say anything else as he found Hinata's lips engulfing his own, the kiss full of tender passion as the Hyūga heiress pushed forwards. Wrapping her arms around Naruto's neck, Hinata sat upon his lap with her legs either side of his waist. Only through the need of breath was the kiss broken but after a quick intake of air the kiss was back on with more force than before, Hinata's tongue driving past Naruto's teeth to wrestle with Naruto's tongue.

Hinata wasn't quite sure why she was acting like this but she figured that if anything it was a bit of jealousy. While her first kiss belonged to Naruto it seemed that two girls were already pushing themselves further than she believed she would have after months or even years of dating. Her nerves had all but vanished and she was determined to show Naruto that she could do anything just as well as any of those other girls could. Her efforts weren't in vain however as she could feel Naruto's penis underneath her slowly growing in size and quickly her nerves returned as she realised just what she was doing.

Standing up off of Naruto, Hinata began to pull down his pants and underwear, the clothing dropping to the floor. Despite the invalid arguments Naruto tried to raise, Hinata's full attention was on the cock before her. Kneeling in front of it, a timid finger came out and poked it, stroking the shaft with a gentle touch which made Naruto groan ever so slightly which caught Hinata a little off guard.

Slow realisation began to dawn on her that both Kin and Sakura had had Naruto's penis inside of them but she was unsure whether or not she could manage to do something like that just yet, despite her desire telling her that she wanted to do even more than they had. "Naruto-kun," she whispered in a barely audible tone as she leant forward from her kneeling position as his smell began to infiltrate her nostrils. Unsure of just what was coming over her, Hinata's tongue poked out of her mouth and began to close the distance between her mouth and the penis in front of her.

Before anything more could happen, the door slammed open revealing the petite form of Hanabi standing in the doorway. "There you are!" she shouted having finally found her sister. When Hinata had not returned to the compound when she was meant to have, Hanabi had gone out searching for her and after recalling where Naruto's house was she got there as quick as her legs could take her. Though she hadn't been quite sure what to expect, to find her sister kneeling in front of a bound Naruto who had his penis out in the open with Hinata's mouth only centimetres away was not what she expected.

Words tried to escape her mouth as her mind progressed just what was going on before Hanabi passed out with an audible thud, proving that it wasn't just Hinata who could faint from embarrassment.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**S.R.457: I'll take that $10 thank you.**

**I imagine that's not how many of you expected this chapter to go but I had fun writing it nonetheless.**

**Peace**


	35. A New Threat Approaches

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

"You think they're done yet?" asked Kin throwing a nervous glance over her shoulder while her fingers held onto her glass tightly. As opposed to going to a nightclub or something along those lines the three girls had made their way back to Tenten's house to get dressed in some finer attire (when Kin had stripped Tenten had noticed that the girl was wearing her underwear she had left at Naruto's but didn't make any mention of it as of yet) before making their way to Sasuke's casino. The reason mainly being that if they were to go to a shinobi bar with somebody who was still potentially an enemy in some people's eyes it could be quite disastrous. While both Sakura and Tenten had toyed with the idea they had finally decided against it and made the decision to head to the casino instead.

"Considering how shy Hinata is, I wouldn't be surprised if she hasn't started yet," said Sakura as her eyes scanned the casino wondering whether or not Ino was working tonight.

"Don't worry about it," said Tenten as she took a sip from her drink, the cocktail dress she was wearing fitting her attire like a glove. Likewise the dresses that both Kin and Sakura wore were exquisite dresses that nobody would really have thought would have been in the closet of the older kunoichi.

"Where did you get these outfits by the way, they're beautiful," asked Sakura as she pointed towards the blue dress that hugged her body. Kin meanwhile wore a black dress that had a split down the side that showed off her leg and considering the position she was in the split was giving her more attention than she wanted.

"Save a bit of money here and there and you can end up buying all sorts of things," said Tenten with a cheeky smirk as if she was boasting something without actually saying it. "I figured that at some stage I'd be invited somewhere fancy and planned accordingly."

"I think you just want to make a good impression for someone on the off chance they ask you out," said Kin, immediately regretting it as she felt Tenten's glare penetrate the side of her head. "Just saying."

"Well...it may have been..." said Tenten as she looked towards the glass in her hand as her fingers began to drum the side of the drink as a way of calming her nerves. While feelings had developed for Naruto she had never actually told anybody about them and the situation made her antsy to say the least. "If anything ever did arise...I'd want to look my best after all."

"Wow, you may be even more timid than Hinata," said Sakura cheekily and couldn't help but realise just how right she was when instead of Tenten responding like she usually would a small blush crept upon her cheeks as she did her best to sink into the stool she was sitting on. Before she could continue teasing however she spotted her teammate make his way through the entrance, several bandages covering his body. At least whoever beat the stuffing out of him was seemingly kind enough to patch him up afterwards. "Sasuke? What happened?"

The Uchiha paid her little attention for the moment as he made his way over to the Baccarat table where an older blonde haired woman had been gambling the entire time that had gone relatively unnoticed by everybody else. "Your apprentice is brutal," he commented getting the lady to turn around, a smile adorning her face.

"That's Lady Tsunade!" Tenten nearly shouted as she recognised her idol almost immediately.

Kin blinked a couple of times as the realisation that she had now effectively seen all three members of the Sannin and was currently still alive was something that very few people could lay credit to. She couldn't tell whether she was honoured to have done so though or if some God had put a curse on her when she was younger.

"Yea, she came here a little less than a week ago," said Sakura. "Ino and I were the only ones here at the time and we got to talk to her a bit, it was something surreal. Until she started gaming and while part of me struggled to believe that Ino's been trained to deal cards of all things, Tsunade must have the worst luck imaginable."

"I have to introduce myself!" declared Tenten as she got off of her stool, nearly spilling her drink in the process as she made her way over to the woman that inspired her.

"So that's the female member of the Sannin," said Kin as she watched Tenten do her best not to embarrass herself in front of such an important person. "I guess all of them have their vices then."

"In what way?" asked Sakura, happily able to talk with Kin provided the topic didn't return to the blonde they imagined was having sex with Hinata right about now. After the first fit of rage she had felt she had calmed down somewhat and considering that to the better part of her knowledge, both she and Kin were the only two to have slept with Naruto although she imagined she'd have to add Hinata to that list to. Even though Naruto technically hadn't been Naruto during the time that they had slept together, she still counted it as such.

"Well, by some horrendous patch of fate, I've managed to meet all three of the Sannin," started Kin as she took a sip of her drink. "While Tsunade here enjoys her gaming I know that Jiraiya is a pervert for lack of a better word."

"What about...the other one?" asked Sakura not wanting to say Orochimaru's name since after the invasion she imagined that nobody would really want to hear of the traitorous Sannin.

"...Experimentation," said Kin slowly. "The mark upon your teammates shoulder is one such 'blessing' he gives out to people he wishes to test."

"Wait, you know about the cursed seal?" asked Sakura.

"My friend, Tayuya, was given it a couple years ago and when she was one of the few to survive she was enlisted as one of 'his' personal guard. I don't know whether she was lucky or unlucky to have survived," said Kin as her head lowered. It had been so long since she had talked with her friend, she didn't even know if she was still alive.

"I'm...sorry to hear that," said Sakura unsure just what to say to her former enemy; well at least former in one regard.

Silence seemed to reign between the two as the awkwardness of the conversation settled in but was quickly blown apart as Tenten reappeared next to them, practically bouncing up and down in joy. "I shook her hand, I really shook her hand!" she said multiple times as the heels of her feet continued to leave the ground. This came to a sudden stop as her attention diverged directly onto Sakura. "How did your teammate become her newest student though?"

"Sasuke's actually being taught by Tsunade?" asked Sakura in response, not entirely sure if what she had heard earlier was merely a rumour that Ino had decided to spread.

"He's so bandaged now because his first test was to take on her other apprentice and he got his ass handed to him," explained Tenten which in turn explained why despite him being so injured he was already on the road to recovery.

"I'd bitch and moan about how everyone seems to have amazing teachers but I do have Kakashi who is almost a legend in his own right, I don't think I have too much to complain about," said Sakura as she downed the rest of her drink. "Anyways, I think it's time we go check on the other two, if we leave them alone too long who knows what'll happen."

The other two drinks barely lasted another handful of seconds before they were devoured without hesitation. Getting to their feet, Sakura and Kin joined Tenten as the three turned to leave but found their path blocked by Gaara, the sand wielder standing directly in the doorway. While the Suna ninja wasn't necessarily out for their blood, he was still an intimidating figure to stand before.

"Umm...hello," said Kin slowly as she lifted her hand the tiniest of fractions in a half attempt at a wave.

It was quite difficult for the three girls to read the expression on Gaara's face, of course that was under the impression that the boy even knew how to show emotions. "Evening," he said calmly.

"How's...your night been?" asked Sakura wanting the sand ninja to get out of their way.

"Well," replied Gaara which started to irk the girls, who seriously only replied with one worded answers.

"Could you step out of the way, we're kind of in a hurry," said Tenten trying to get the person in front of her to move. For most the thought of standing in the way of three girls who while were all formidable in their own right would be suicidal for most considering the goal they were trying to reach, Gaara simply stood there weighing up his options as if trying to figure out just what he would gain from stepping out of the way. Several seconds passed and Tenten could feel herself starting to get antsy before the sand wielder stepped out of the way much to the girl's delight.

"Thank you," said Kin as she started off in a sprint wanting desperately to catch up on those few seconds that had been wasted. She was quickly followed by Tenten and Sakura whilst Gaara simply stood there with a hint of confusion upon his features, trying to figure out why the three girls were going so fast. He really needed to get used to this human interaction thing.

Meanwhile it didn't take long for the three girls to get to Naruto's place making sure that they took the shortest route imaginable. They paused outside the door however, pressing their ear against the wooden board as if listening to make sure that the coast was clear. Upon the silence that they were given they twisted the doorknob and allowed themselves access to Naruto's house. The first thing they noticed was that the ropes that had bound Naruto were now free of any captor which either meant that Naruto had forced himself upon Hinata or the Hyūga heiress had simply not gone through with anything under the pretence that she'd want it to be more of a mutual thing.

Making their way further into the house they dared not make a sound unless they alerted any of the people that were there, provided that there was someone there to begin with. Coming towards the master bedroom they managed to find the couple, surprisingly with the clothes still on and in the company of Hinata's younger sister. As to why Hanabi was there none of them could tell but all three of them were sleeping silently upon the king sized mattress.

The three girls looked at each other as they weighed up their options and, even though Kin didn't really have anywhere else to go, they made their way onto the bed and made themselves comfortable. While the manufacturing company never proclaimed that the mattress could support six people they all managed to fit despite the awkward number of people.

Tenten was the first person to strike and found herself the best position she could by getting right behind Naruto with her chest practically resting against his back whilst he slept on his side. She didn't even bother to look where the other two had managed to place themselves, she finally had her Naruto back to cuddle up against but she knew that she needed to be a little more forward with her advances now because she was against some stiff competition. That was in the future however, with her arms wrapped around the young chef Tenten found sleep easy to come by for the first time in a month.

That morning while the six all continued to sleep they had two guests in the forms of Inoichi and Jiraiya, the sage having brought the head of the Yamanaka clan to perform the necessary tests to allow Kin to join the ranks of Konoha shinobi. Stepping into the room that housed all of the occupants sent Jiraiya's mind aflame while Inoichi simply blinked a handful of times before turning around and walking out of the house proclaiming that he would come back in a couple of hours. Jiraiya barely listened however as he was already doing his best to sketch the image before him. While the toad sage was well known for his writing skills he needed another way to etch this down in his memory for all eternity, he also imagined that if he made several reprints Ma and Pa would like to have a copy hanging on their wall.

Plus it would be great blackmail material.

...

"Hanabi, calm down," said Hinata slowly as the sister in her arms shook violently from side to side, the horrible memories having seemingly scarred her. All of them had seemingly woken up as a single group roughly an hour after Jiraiya had completed his 'masterpiece' and Naruto had done the sensible thing by bailing immediately by stating that he was going to get an early start on finishing his ramen stand.

"It was a genjutsu...right," said Hanabi trying to make sense of the whole thing as she looked around at the other females in the room for support. Kin was the only one not paying attention at the moment as her eyes were glued shut as Inoichi sat in front of her, his jutsu in effect as he scoured her mind for any information that would label her as an enemy. "Because there...there just can't be anyway..."

For Tenten and Sakura who hadn't been there to witness what had actually happened while they had been out of the house. Considering the time they had spent getting dressed up and drinking barely went past the hour mark they couldn't quite figure out what had happened during that time. Whatever it was though, for it to have had this effect on the young Hyūga it must have been something in its own right.

Hinata meanwhile had gone completely silent as her face lit up something chronic, the red on her cheeks able to make bulls go mad. "You were! You were going to suck Naruto's thing!" shouted Hanabi in disgust which in turn made several people in the room have different reactions.

Sakura turned red at the thought of doing such a thing, especially in the sober mood that Hinata had been in.

Tenten realised that Hanabi had said 'were' during her phrasing meaning that Hinata hadn't actually done anything during the time she had been given, although that was directly relatable to the fact that Hanabi had seemingly stepped in at that exact moment.

Inoichi was doing his best to stifle the nosebleed and making silent vows to never allow himself to get drunk around Hiashi lest the life of Naruto become forfeit.

...

A wondering caravan walked down the road, his business in Konoha done now that the Chūnin exams were over. During the festivities he had made a killing in sales and despite the carnage that had befallen the village during the final day he had somehow managed to make it out of their unscathed.

Lifting up his hand to block the sunlight infiltrating his eyes he managed to spot to figures in the distance walking towards him. Their steps seemed to be in complete synchronicity which was only made stranger by the fact that they wore identical clothing that covered them from head to toe.

Pulling his wagon to a stop, he saw no harm in trying to make a few extra coins from these travellers. What was the worst that could happen?

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and all that jazz. I wasn't going to write this out for another week or so but I thought, 'it's Christmas, why the hell not?' Because of that however it is a little short in length but with the ramen shop reopening next chapter I couldn't really add much more to the chapter.**

**Peace**


	36. New Beginnings

**I apologize for the shoddiness of the previous chapter, I may or may not have been intoxicated at the time of writing *rubs back of head sheepishly*. Let's see if I can make up for it with this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

"Alright everybody," shouted Naruto as he looked at the company before him. Just like the day prior a good deal of the shinobi in the village had made a turn out to help him finish construction work on his new place of business. Well it was the old place of business but it had just gone through renovations that would usually take months in the place of thirty six hours, so new place of business seemed much more accurate a description. "Thank you for everything you've done in helping me put this place back together. I invite all of you to come back in an hour when I open up shop, I just need to spend a little more time getting all the ingredients and making a few last minute changes. Once again, thank you for everything and as a show of gratitude first two bowls for everybody are free."

Naruto's statement was quickly met by a round of applause as the crowd started to dissipate, individuals heading off to do their own things in town before coming back to sample their favourite food. Turning on his heel, Naruto created a dozen shadow clones to go do his business throughout town as he stepped into the restaurant that had been created by shinobi for shinobi. The ramen bar had been completely transformed and as Naruto ran his fingers over some of the wooden boards of the bar he felt as if a part of him had been transformed as well.

One thing that was already on the list for the redevelopment was that Naruto had actually got a menu in mind, one of his clones having been sent off to make multiple copies of it for his customers. While he knew all of their likes and dislikes, he figured that it would take a bit of mental strain away from him. Although he'd continue to give Tenten the same bowl at the exact moment she walked through the door.

Nothing was going to change that.

"Naruto," said a voice from behind him and Naruto felt like telling whoever was talking to them that they were closed. However it was a voice he had not heard in a long while, a voice that belonged to somebody who was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

Turning around Naruto looked upon the mask of an ANBU member, yet the long purple hair that trailed down to her waist told him exactly who it was. "Yugao," he said softly as he looked at the the fellow survivor of the Akatsuki attack years earlier. "Come in, I'll fix something up," said Naruto as he ushered his former companion in. Yugao remained fixed in position momentarily before she took slow steps forward. While her features were hidden behind her ANBU mask Naruto could still read her emotions. Stepping behind the bar he summoned a couple of clones to head into the kitchen and begin working while he positioned himself opposite to where Yugao took a seat. While part of him pondered over the thought of pulling out a bottle of Sake he decided against it and just chose to pour a couple of glasses of water.

"Thank you," said Yugao as she removed her mask to allow herself to drink from the glass. Upon seeing her features it was clear that the purple haired woman had struggled to sleep these past few nights and tear stains were cemented upon her cheeks.

Naruto lifted his own glass to his lips and drank the liquid within. Since that fateful day both Naruto and Yugao had gone down different paths and with her responsibilities as an ANBU Yugao had never caught up with the blonde. Even though other ANBU often spent their breaks within the confines of Naruto's store Yugao had never stepped foot in the building. Naruto had several theories as to why but didn't ask less be bring up painful memories and from the look of it talking about things long since gone would not be good for Yugao's health.

For a couple of minutes they simply remained in silence, even their breathing seemed to have become less noticeable. Without dozens of patrons it didn't take long for the clones to finish the food they were preparing and the meals were quickly put in front of the two who began to eat still without another word being said between them and the blonde couldn't help but start to wonder whether Yugao had intentionally meant to come visit or if somebody had actually dragged her down here to meet with him.

"I shouldn't have come," she finally said as she pushed the unfinished meal away from her and got to her feet. Turning around, she started walking towards the open doorway but found herself unable to move as Naruto had leapt over the bar top and was gripping her in a hug. It didn't matter that the boy was two feet shorter than her, this was the first time the two had bonded at all since that day and it seemed Naruto wasn't quite done with it yet. This physical touch seemed to be enough however as her arms found their way around the blonde as fresh tears fell from her eyes.

...

Jiraiya walked through the desolate halls of the prison, the inmates all silent having long lost hope that they would ever be set free. His steps seemingly echoed as he made his way to where the specific inmate rested. After the invasion this captured enemy had become their number one priority and while many wanted Inoichi to go and investigate through her mind Jiraiya knew that there could potentially be some traps lying in wait that Orochimaru had put as a backup. Risking the life of someone so prominent was not on Jiraiya's top five things to do for the day.

"Leave us," he instructed as he came to the correct cell, asking the two ANBU guards to leave him and the prisoner for the time being. Touching the bars and disabling the seal that kept the gate locked, the toad sage stepped forth into the small cell before closing the gate behind him.

"Isn't this an honour," scoffed Tayuya as she looked up at the white haired man.

"I'd make some boisterous entrance but I rather not have this conversation while dozens of other prisoners heckle us," said Jiraiya as he looked down at the kneeling red haired girl.

"Much appreciated," said Tayuya as she turned her face away from the pervert. Sadly the man in front of her wasn't the only perverted man in the prison and many of the other criminals had seemingly gotten a kick out of vividly describing the ravenous acts they'd do to her if they were freed from their cells for only a couple minutes. It certainly made going to sleep a difficulty with the words of rape concerning a dozen different men were repeating through one's mind. "So what do you want or are you just here cause you got fucking bored with whatever it is you do?"

"I'll ask the questions," said Jiraiya as he wondered just what manner of torture he could use on the girl. Currently the tickle torture was going through his mind but he imagined that making her laugh would only rile up the other prisoners.

"And I'll give the same fucking answer I have to everybody else who has come in here and asked away," said Tayuya which caused Jiraiya to raise an eyebrow. He hadn't known that anybody else had interrogated her. Was it somebody with a personal grudge? One of Orochimaru's spies? Or was Danzo making a move?

"What answer would that be?" asked Jiraiya as he crossed his arms.

"Bring me the fucking blonde brat and I'll talk."

And there rose the second eyebrow before a devilish smile crossed Jiraiya's lips.

...

"Come one come all, let your tastebuds have a sensation they'll never forget," shouted a Naruto clone through a speakerphone as ninjas seemingly popped up from every corner and crevice to make their way to the grand reopening of the store. Shinobi who had civilaian partners were bringing them through some of the roughest streets in Konoha just so they could sample what was on offer.

The clones within the kitchen were ferociously as pots of boiling water continued to work their magic upon piles upon piles of noodles. Several other clones worked away at chopping various vegetables and meat but one person seemingly looked out of place amongst the mess of blonde hair and aprons. Yugao, despite her best attempts and talking the blonde out of such a preposterous idea, had found herself roped into working with the numerous clones in making sure that every bowl that was delivered to the customers was to perfection. Despite having no real experience in such an atmosphere Yugao felt strangely at home as she found herself in the life she could have had if she had given up on her ninja ambitions as opposed to joining ANBU. Sometimes it was nice just to sit back and see what else there was to life.

"Not having too much trouble?" asked one of the nearby clones as they placed several carrots down on a chopping board and got to work.

"Not at all," replied Yugao sure to give the clone a cheeky smirk to show that she was more than capable of such a simple task. Of course it was in this moment in gloating that she lost concentration and a small trail of smoke began o rise from the meat she was preparing, resulting in the ANBU member squealing in shock as she flicked the meat to inspect the damage, much to the clones delight who couldn't help but chuckle.

"'Not at all' she says," stated the clone which made the purple haired woman pout slightly before giving the clone a venomous glare.

"Quiet you," she said before she got back to her work, trying to ignore the young blonde haired clone beside her.

After having spent a handful of minutes merely hugging her former teammate she had gone into detail about how lonely she had felt since Hayate was murdered. Of course Naruto had already found out about his former Kenjutsu teacher's death and had dealt with it yet he knew that Yugao and Hayate had been going out for some time, even when the two Chūnin at the time would train under the watchful eye of Gekko sensei the blonde could see that something was growing between the two. Not really having had any experience in that field at the time, Naruto simply chose to ignore it but now that he had lost his virginity (the legitimacy of those situations was still to be resolved) he couldn't help but wonder if he would end up an emotional wreck if he ever lost somebody whom he loved. That was all under the pretence that one day he did truly love somebody one day.

"Alright table three needs two pork, one with no vegetables, a miso and a salmon with extra fungi," instructed a clone who was working at the front of the bar doing his best to make sure that all of the orders were taken down correctly. They had only been open for an hour and already two mistakes had been made and while they weren't really anything to complain about Naruto merely figured that it would take time to get used to the new structure. At least the customers seemed to be enjoying it, including one table that was doing its best to try and figure out which Naruto was the original.

"I wouldn't put it past him to be the one outside shouting at people," said Tenten as her eyes flicked through the menu. For the better part of a eighteen months she had eaten the exact same meal at Naruto's store and now it was time to try something completely out of the blue.

"He may not even be here," mused Sakura as she decided on what she was going to have.

Kin was doing her best to sink into the cushioned furniture as she continued to get questionable glares from other Konoha shinobi. She didn't blame them either. Inoichi had given her all the approval necessary and she had the backing of one of the legendary Sannin but until only a couple days ago she was an enemy of the village. It would take time but she hoped she would be accepted one day.

"Hey where's Hinata?" asked a Naruto clone as they walked by carrying several empty bowls.

"She took Hanabi home," explained Sakura. "I also think she wants to sit in a corner and not die of embarrassment for a while."

"Did something happen?" asked the clone.

"You had to be there," said Tenten doing her best to hide her smirk behind the menu she was holding. The clone merely shrugged it's shoulders in response before getting back to work, the last thing he wanted was for his boss to scold him for slacking off.

"So what are you two going to do later?" asked Kin.

"Gai sensei is taking my squad on a simple clean up mission, there's still a lot of stuff in the middle of town that either needs to be removed or repaired," said Tenten. "I think I heard Lee say something at the time if he couldn't carry two hundred pieces of rubble out of the village he'd do five hundred one fingered push ups or something ridiculous. What about you Sakura?"

"I've got no real plans," said Sakura. "I haven't seen Kakashi sensei today so I don't think I'm going to be needed for a mission."

"If possible then could you and I head to one of the training grounds and have a spar?" asked Kin which caused the pink haired girl to raise an eyebrow. "I've been cooped up within Naruto's place and have barely had the chance to spread my legs at all; I reckon my skill may have deteriorated."

Sakura and Tenten both stifled giggles which made the newest member of Konoha look at them in confusion. Was it something she said?

...

"So you're going to become the new Hokage?" asked the original Naruto as he sat within Sasuke's casino alongside the female member of the Sannin at the blackjack table. In front of him was a small stack of chips, much smaller than the amount that Tsunade had on the table. He figured though that her stash was much smaller than what she started with, there was no way she had won so much money.

"Yeah, the council elected me over Jiraiya and I don't blame them, could you imagine what kind of perverted laws that man would put into place," said Tsunade as she pondered whether to hit or sit.

"No sole gender hot springs," replied Naruto knowing exactly what Jiraiya's first law would be.

"I'd think it'd be more along the lines of all females must wear perverted lingerie at all time," chuckled Tsunade as she bust her hand, not really minding though.

"All erotic novels must be sold at half price."

"Once a week all female ninja must participate in a mud wrestling fight."

"All hospital nurses' skirts must not be longer than knee height."

"Legalised prostitution?"

"I think even that's stretching it a bit, the rest of the ideas weren't so bad," said Jiraiya as he stepped through the front door. "Perhaps I should have shown more interest in picking up the old man's hat."

"I'm even more resolved to be Hokage now," said Tsunade knowing that if she backed down now perverted things would befall Konoha.

"Fine fine," said Jiraiya waving it off. "Where's moody at?"

"I sent him off to spar with Shizune again," said Tsunade as she put another bet down on the table. "I think his Kakashi's also gone down to give out some pointers."

"Ah, that'd be why I didn't see any of them at the workplace this morning," said Naruto as he doubled up the small amount he had bet.

"So how's business going?" asked Jiraiya.

"Solid so far, don't think it'll quiet down for a couple of hours yet," said Naruto as he looked through his winnings.

"Don't you think you should be watching over everything yourself?" asked Tsunade.

"It'll all go smoothly but I just want to sit back and enjoy the day a bit," said Naruto. "My clones can handle themselves."

"Since you've got the day to yourself then, I've been asked to take you somewhere," said Jiraiya.

"By who?" asked Naruto as he turned around to face the white haired man.

"I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise now would I," said Jiraiya with a sly smirk.

"Fine then," said Naruto as he pushed away from the blackjack table.

"Get back here soon, you're my good luck charm you know," said Tsunade not taking her eyes off of the table.

"You need a better good luck charm," said Naruto as he pocketed his winnings for later use. He needed to come back anyway as he wanted to raise an idea with Sasuke that could benefit him later down the track business wise. Exiting with a brief farewell, Jiraiya and Naruto leapt onto the nearby rooftops as they started making their way to wherever the white haired man was taking his former student. "So where we going?"

"Prison," said Jiraiya which caused Naruto to pause on the rooftop he just landed on before rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "Really, you're making me do this?"

"She asked for you personally."

"What god did I piss off to deserve this," said Naruto as he shook his head before leaping forward once more as Jiraiya chuckled away, probably already plotting some smut within the depths of his mind.

...

"Hey Iruka sensei, long time no see," said Kiba as he waved to the academy teacher. Both he and Akamaru had finished the bowl of ramen they had selected and the feral boy was going to burn off some energy by doing some tandem work with his canine companion.

"Kiba, nice to see you," said Iruka as he spotted his former pupil. "What's been happening?"

"Apart from the destruction of everything, not much," said Kiba as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, bit of a stupid question," said Iruka as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry it's just that I've been asked to give a lecture to the students about the dangers of the street and I have no real idea where to go with it."

"What dangers?" asked Kiba.

"Drugs mostly, I've been told that they're becoming more common and I've got to do my best to try and dissuade the kids from thinking of taking anything they shouldn't," said Iruka as his face dropped, still unsure how to tell a bunch of children that even when they became ninja there were certain things they shouldn't do.

"Iruka sensei," said Kiba proudly as he poked his thumb into his chest. "Leave it to me."

...

The room was sealed completely, preventing anybody from listening or looking in on the two occupants. One of which was Naruto, the blonde leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. The other was the most recent addition to the prison in the form of Tayuya, her arms bound behind her back as seals preventing her from accessing her chakra were stained across her body. Despite the aggressive nature of Tayuya she hadn't said a word yet and was doing her best to avert eye contact with the boy. Naruto meanwhile had been told that after Tayuya and he finished this meeting she would be willing to talk and give out all the details necessary. It didn't mean he liked it however.

"So..." started Naruto but was cut off as he saw Tayuya's lips move slowly but couldn't hear the words she said. "What was that?"

"Could you...ummm...you know..." said Tayuya as she still struggled to make any eye contact.

"Take your time, there's no rush," said Naruto trying to get the criminal in front of him to calm down a bit and clearly say what they wanted to say.

Breathing in deeply, Tayuya turned her head so that she was looking at Naruto and the blonde could quickly see the tinge of pink upon her cheeks and he suddenly feared what she had to say. "Brat, I want you to fuck me."

With his recent string of luck, Naruto should have seen that one coming a mile away but his mouth still flapped open and closed like a fish out of water.

"Didn't you hear me, I want you to fuck me!" shouted Tayuya clearly embarrassed.

Seriously, what did he do to deserve this?

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Bfg10k17: What things do you want me to clear up, I'll do my best to try explain just who Naruto is and why he is who he is.**

**SilentSambo88: Yea I kinda realised the next morning that it was probably foolish of me to do what I did but that's how it goes.**

**Til next time.**

**Peace**


	37. A Past Revisited

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

Naruto blinked a couple of times, trying to comprehend whether or not he had heard this woman correctly. Slowly he came to the realization that his ears weren't deceiving him before the blonde chef took a seat on the ground opposite the heavily restrained prisoner and said the first thing that was on his mind.

"Why?"

This put Tayuya on the back foot momentarily as she realized that the boy in front of her was actually refusing sex without much of a second thought. Weren't all teenage boys ragging bags of hormones that simply wanted to fuck everything with a hole between its legs? Shaking her head momentarily, she focused her attention back on the blond who was looking her in the eye.

She tried to say something but found that her voice became caught in her throat as the red haired woman tried to figure out the answer to Naruto's question. That was until her impulsiveness kicked in once again as she started swearing at the kid in front of her. "For fuck's sake kid, I just want you to ram that dick of yours up me like I'm a fucking cock sleeve," she cursed.

"That's not a reason," said Naruto not backing down in this matter.

"What's the big deal brat, I offer to tell all my secrets to the village and all I want in compensation is for you to take appendage A and place it in socket B repeatedly and as hard as you fucking can, it's not that bloody complicated!"

"It's not going to happen," said the chef. "Before you shout and scream again, I'm going to go out and play the good guy card straight away and before you say anything the good guy is not the one who sleeps with every woman who asks him to. Things are a bit complicated right now and you having been a part of the group that killed my grandfather figure isn't the best of starts. That however doesn't mean that I'm just going to say no straight away. Everyone deserves a second chance and while yours may take a while to come through it will come, one way or another."

"So what am I meant to do, sit here and wait for months on end as you figure out what to do with me?" asked Tayuya as Naruto got to his feet.

"That's exactly what's going to happen," said Naruto. "It won't be months or even weeks more likely than not. I'll come back in a few days to see if your attitude has changed and we can just sit and talk, think you can do that?"

Tayuya couldn't help but be infuriated by Naruto's words but she remained silent on the matter as her rage boiled internally. Without another word, Naruto left the cell which was quickly locked up moments later by the ANBU on guard. While they had heard the conversation they knew better than to get on Naruto's bad side.

Reaching the exit of the prison, Naruto was about to exit before he could hear Tayuya's scream of frustration resonate through the building, sending many of the other inmates into an uproar. Making a mental note to bring silencing seals for his next visit, Naruto left hoping that next time they met they could have a civil conversation.

Shielding his eyes from the setting sun, Naruto had expected to meet Jiraiya out here but knew that it was kind of a false hope as now was one of the best viewing times for the hot springs. Part of him wanted to get the white haired man into deep trouble but with his path blocked by a blonde haired woman chances were he would possibly be preoccupied later. "Can I help you?" asked Naruto trying to be courteous while hoping that this chat went a hell of a lot better than his last one.

"You're the one who helped my brother, right?" asked Temari as she looked at the boy who was a few inches shorter than her.

"Ah you mean Gaara, yea I guess you could say I put him on the right track," said Naruto sheepishly before he found himself in Temari's grasp, the older girl hugging him with all her might.

"Thank you so much," she said as tears of joy trailed down her cheeks.

"Uhh...no problem?" said Naruto more as a question than anything.

Composing herself, Temari released her hold before wiping the tears from her face, muttering something about how a good shinobi should never show their emotions in doing so before facing Naruto. "My brothers and I are leaving in two days time, Gaara seems to have fallen in love with your cooking," she said.

"I guess it does have that effect first time round," said Naruto recalling the first time he had ever tried the delicacy that he now made on a daily basis.

"Before I go however, I want to thank you for what you did for my family," said Temari. "Would you like to join me for breakfast tomorrow morning, there's a cafe near the hotel I'm staying at that I've been dying to go to but since neither of my brothers wanted to go I wasn't going to go and sit by myself."

"Breakfast...thank god," said Naruto with a sigh of relief which made Temari question if she was missing an inside joke of some kind. "Sure, I'll be there at eight."

"Sounds great, see you then," said Temari as she leaped away before her emotions got the better of her once again.

Naruto merely smiled at nothing for a while before his mood deflated very quickly, knowing that he needed to talk to somebody soon, something that neither Jiraiya nor Kakashi could help with. Knowing that he'd be busy for several hours yet, Naruto jumped off towards one of the training grounds, hoping some meditation would help clear his mind.

...

"I just can't catch a break," said Naruto with his head held in his hands. The sun had long since set and the ramen chef had made his way to his other business where Sasuke had been working. Due to the quietness of the casino Sasuke had opted to close early just so that he and Naruto could have a chat without any distractions. "If any of the other girls see me I'm dead."

"I remember what it was like when I was in the academy, somehow though I think you have it just that little bit tougher than I do," said Sasuke sympathetically. "From the sounds of it though, the stuff I went through was child's play compared to yours."

"You'll get yours one day," said Naruto as he lifted up his face. "I'm actually happy I have you to talk to about this kind of stuff, if I went to either Kakashi or Jiraiya I'll be asked for details...lots of details."

"I would've thought that against either of those two you could have made a grand escape out of a situation like that," said Sasuke which earned a slanted eyebrow from Naruto. "I'm just saying that for a Jonin level shinobi Kakashi hasn't actually shown anything that has really blown me out of the water. Plus from my experience with Jiraiya, I can't actually ever see him getting riled up for a fight when there's hot springs nearby."

"That's cause you've never seen either of them when they got serious," said Naruto with a chuckle. "Pretty sure me and Kakashi could go toe to toe, he'd win in the end just from experience. Jiraiya though, he's on another level altogether. Thought you would've learned that from training with Tsunade."

"Perhaps if I'd done any training with her I could compare," said Sasuke with a scoff. "So far all I've done so far is spar with her attendant on a daily basis."

"And this hasn't been beneficial to you?" asked Naruto with a cheeky smirk.

"Well...it has...it's not quite what I was after though," said Sasuke who had been looking for a get strong quick scheme. As he looked back on the previous days and his training sessions he couldn't doubt that he had gotten stronger but more importantly he had learned what weaknesses he had. Shizune was brutal in her training and whenever the Uchiha would repeat a mistake from the previous day, Tsunade's apprentice would strike with full force in an attempt to break him out of bad habits. Thinking about it, it wasn't that his peak strength was increasing but rather his negatives were being removed, making him a more balanced fighter.

"Sometimes it's better to not be given what we expect," said the blond chef as he drank from his glass before running his hands through his hair. "I don't wanna go home tonight, I know they're all going to be there waiting for me."

"You're sounding like a spoiled child," said Sasuke while he topped up Naruto's glass before leaving the sake bottle on the table knowing that it was going to get more use yet. "I might be able to give you some good news however, wait here a second and I'll show you our finance reports."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at that. Knowing all of the discounts he'd have to be giving those who helped rebuild his ramen stand a bit of extra cash in the pocket would be quite helpful. With Sasuke in his office, Naruto couldn't help but expel a sigh before rubbing his eyes. There was a chance, just a small chance, that he may be able to get into bed tonight without the company of any of the girls. This however was all provided on the chance that either Tenten or Sakura refused to have Kin stay with him alone. The counter balance of this however was the possibility that either or potentially both of the Genin stayed at Naruto's, an idea which made the blond want to tear out his hair. Possibly the best option was considering how late in the evening it was that all of those who could potentially stay within his house had already gone to bed and would permit him to get some well deserved rest without potential distractions. It wasn't because he didn't like their company by any means, Naruto just didn't want to see his actions appear in the next book that Jiraiya published.

Lifting his head, Naruto's ears picked up the sound of two people standing at the doorway to the casino despite the fact the business had been closed for the better part of half an hour. Part of him simply wanted to tell them to head home but without even looking he could feel the power radiating behind him. Reaching over the counter, Naruto's fingers managed to cling onto a couple of clean cups that he placed on the bar top before pouring the uninvited guest a couple of drinks.

"Oh, I didn't expect our target to be so hospitable," said one of the two as they sat down next to Naruto, a blue hand reaching forward and picking the glass up from the table.

"It could be poison," countered Naruto not taking his eyes off of his own drink.

"Could be," they said casually as they drank away, relatively happy to not being treated as the criminal that he was. "I doubt you would have just kept a bottle of poison in front of you for shits and giggles however."

"True that," said Naruto as he drank from his own glass. "Considering you haven't made an attempt to kill me yet you're just here to observe for the moment."

"We can always try and kill you if you wish," they said with a toothy smile.

"That's enough Kisame," said the cold voice of the man who had not yet taken of his drink. "Try not to divulge our secrets and more than necessary."

"Oh," said Naruto while he spun on his stool to face Kisame's partner, the drink still firmly held in his hand. "I think I managed to get all of the information I needed already."

"Believe what you will," they replied with cold red eyes staring into Naruto's. "It seems as if your time being retired has not dulled your senses."

"Retired? I merely changed occupations," said Naruto in a joking manner. "Being within the walls of Konoha would give me the greatest protection was what I had thought. Even with the amount of strength each of you members of Akatsuki have, you'd still have to think twice before taking on the 'will of fire.'"

"Do you truly believe that anybody in this village can stop us?" asked Kisame.

"Yes," said Naruto confidently which caused the man Naruto was looking at to raise an eyebrow, if only the smallest of fractions.

"May I know the name of the one who you believe can stand toe to toe against me?" they asked, wondering if there was somebody else that their organization should be keeping tabs on.

"Konoha." A pause ran through the air momentarily before Kisame burst into laughter, even going as far as to pat Naruto on the shoulder as if they were old drinking buddies. His ally however merely stood there, no emotion being shown across his features while the blond took a sip of his drink before continuing. "If I hazarded a guess, possibly Jiraiya or Tsunade could possibly be enough to handle you one on one. If everybody was fighting as one cohesive unit however, you wouldn't stand a chance. Not even someone like you, Uchiha Itachi."

"This theory of yours, I'd like to test it," said Kisame as his hand reached up for where the hilt of his sword rest.

"Kisame," said Itachi coldly, warning his partner to not do anything foolish. The attitude within the air however changed dramatically when one person reentered the central floor of the building.

"I...ITACHI!" shouted Sasuke in anger as his eyes fell upon his older brother, the papers he had been holding falling to the floor by his feet. Without a second thought, Sasuke pounced forward intent on eradicating his last remaining family member with his own hands. He didn't get far however before he found himself slammed into the floor by the one person in the room he had thought least likely to do so.

"Sasuke," said Naruto in a menacing tone, installing a bit of fear into the Uchiha beneath him. "No."

"No?" shouted Sasuke in his rage, looking up at his brother while trying to push Naruto off of him without any luck in doing so. Naruto watched however as black markings began to crawl across Sasuke's skin, the Uchiha not even seeming to notice that it was happening. "He killed my family and you just want me to sit here and look at him."

"And he will kill you in a heartbeat if you attack him now," said Naruto as he held Sasuke in place.

"I'll kill him myself!"

"Get a hold of yourself!" shouted Naruto as he grabbed the back of Sasuke's head and thrust the Uchiha's face into the floor. "He massacred your family and if you even move from this spot then chances are that your tombstone will be placed next to your father's within the hour. You cannot take him on, I will not watch as you throw away your life."

Sasuke didn't say anything as tears of frustration began to swell within his eyes, being able to read in between the lines of what Naruto was saying, that he was weak. "Congratulations," said Itachi who still hadn't moved from the doorway. "You managed to save my brother's life."

"Shut up you," said Naruto turning his attention back to Itachi. "We could fight you now, hell we may even be able to beat you. The number of lives however that will die in the process is not something I want hanging upon my shoulders. You and Sasuke will fight, it is his right and his right alone. It will not however be here or now."

Kisame got to his feet, his grip upon his blade tightening as he felt anxious for the battle that could shortly occur. "Kisame, we're leaving," said Itachi as he turned his back to those on the floor.

"Just when it was going to get interesting," said Kisame as he visibly deflated, upset with the way the trip turned out.

"Wait!" shouted Sasuke as he managed to get his face out of the carpet. Itachi paused midstep as he looked over his shoulder at his younger brother whose hatred was marked upon his features. "Itachi, I swear, I will kill you."

"I look forward to the day we cross once more," said Itachi before he vanished, Kisame dispersing just as quickly.

Naruto released a sigh of relief as he released his hold on the Uchiha beneath him only for Sasuke to twist around and grab Naruto by the scruff of his jacket. "Why didn't you let me kill him?" shouted Sasuke, the cursed seal still spread across his skin.

"I remember when Itachi defeated Orochimaru, the guy who not only just killed the Sandaime but also defeated you if that seal upon your skin is anything to go by," said Naruto, his face showing only the slightest bit of disappointment within his eyes.

"What...how did you know?" asked Sasuke in disbelief as he forced the markings to recede back into the seal upon his neck.

"You're not the only one who Orochimaru has marked and you won't be the last," said Naruto as he ran his fingers through his hair, Sasuke releasing his hold on the blond. "He marked you because he believes that your hatred for Itachi will lead you to him."

Sasuke didn't say anything as he thought about the marking that Orochimaru had given him. Would he potentially toss away all connections with the village just for the power to defeat Itachi? As much as it left a bad taste in his mouth he couldn't truly deny that he would give up such a chance.

"Let me tell you something though which may suede your mind," said Naruto lifting up three fingers. "Number one, Orochimaru became strong in Konoha. Number two, Itachi became strong in Konoha. Number three, you will become strong in Konoha."

Sasuke slowly took all of this in, even though he had had a lot of expectation put on him by his peers and seniors never had anyone actually gone out and stated that he would get the strength he was after. His moment of reprieve allowed Naruto to place a comforting hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Three years," said Naruto.

"Three years?" repeated Sasuke unsure what Naruto was referring to.

"We need to get strong enough to fight against everything Akatsuki have to offer in three years," said Naruto before realising he may have said too much.

"Akatsuki?" asked Sasuke quickly picking up on the word he was unfamiliar with.

Running his fingers through his hair, Naruto knew that he made a crucial error but one that would likely needed to have been revealed further down the track especially with the path that Sasuke had been likely to take. "You saw that Kisame and Itachi were wearing the same outfit right?" asked Naruto to which he received an affirmative nod. "That outfit is the getup of the Akatsuki, a group of 'S' ranked criminals. If you want to go against Itachi you're going to be making a lot of powerful enemies."

Sasuke swallowed nervously at that. Thinking over all of the fights he had been in the only one that had been against somebody from the Bingo book had been the scuffle with the Demon Brothers back at the start of the mission to Wave. He had learned from Kakashi that they were classified in the Bingo Book as being 'C' ranked, the lowest rank given. Knowing what his brother was capable of, becoming enemies with a league of people consisting of similar strength seemed like a one way ticket to hell.

"Even with Jiraiya's spy system in place, we don't know how many members Akatsuki have nor do we know their objective but we believe that they will be acting soon, hence the three year time limit," lied Naruto. He could go on to explain that soon they would start hunting down Jinchuriki but he wasn't going to go blabbing on about how he would be a target because of the fox that was sealed within him. "Considering their standards though, having had members like Orochimaru and Itachi among their ranks, we can hope that they only have around six or seven members but that may be wishful thinking. All we know is that nobody is really safe from them. If we'd actually fought those two from before, chances are Konoha may not even exist anymore."

Sasuke raised a hand to his head as he began to realize the foolishness of his actions and couldn't help but internally thank Naruto for stopping him. "What should I do?" he asked.

"Keep training with Shizune for now, every bit counts in the end," said Naruto as he started walking towards the exit. "I'll figure something out by the end of the week."

"Cheers, and best of luck with your date tomorrow morning," said Sasuke waving to his business partner.

"I'm going to need it," said Naruto putting on a fake smile. "Don't tell anybody about what happened tonight, after the death of the third the last thing everyone needs to hear is that more of Konoha's criminals are back. I'll see you around."

Watching as the door closed, Sasuke went to the bar where the glass of sake originally meant for Itachi remained. While he wasn't really one for drinking, at least not yet, he couldn't help but feel the need to calm his nerves. At first the liquid burned as it travelled down his throat but he forced his way past the initial pain before he looked at the remaining liquor and in turn the reflection of himself.

Activating his Sharingan, Sasuke compared his eyes to that of his brother noticing first and foremost that there was a tomoe missing meaning that the two of them didn't even share the same eyes. That was only the tip of the iceberg however and Sasuke had begun to realize that. While he had trained in speed in order to be able to combat Gaara in the Chūnin exams much how Lee had in the preliminaries. When Naruto had forced him to the ground however he hadn't even been able to see the chef's movements, showing the difference in skill between the two of them. Yet while Sasuke had been full of rage towards his brother he had been able to feel something from the hand that held him to the ground. Naruto had been shaking, only the slightest of margins and Sasuke couldn't help but wonder if the teenager was shaking because of fear. If Naruto was afraid of Itachi, considering the strength difference between the two of them Sasuke should have been petrified yet he had been blinded by his hate and anger.

When the two Uchiha brothers met once again Sasuke swore he would not allow his emotions to control his actions.

He would be victorious.

...

Outside the village walls, Kisame and Itachi walked in silence although from time to time the Uchiha could hear his partner grumble under his breath. Unseen by the former member of the Seven Swordsman however, was the smallest of smiles upon Itachi's lips.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Been a while I know but I've been working on my collaboration project for Team Dragon Star called 'Failings and Misunderstandings.' Give it a read if you want to read some more of my Naruto work.**

**Bfg10k17: I can't really answer all of your questions otherwise I'll ruin the story. One that I will answer is "He knows so many people on a personal level. Reasons?" His social life (outside of the constant flirting and sex) is pretty much run by the regular customers who come into his bar on a daily basis. From my experience in the hospitality industry, after seeing the same people day in day out you get to know them on a personal level even if you don't mean to. Not sure if this is the same for everybody who works in hospitality but for my country pub yes, yes it was.**

**Until next time.**

**Peace**


	38. Life Goes On

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

"Morning," said Temari as she waved at her fellow blond.

"I forgot what it's like to be up this early," said Naruto as he continued to rub some of the sleep out of his eyes.

"Didn't sleep well?" asked Temari.

"On the contrary, best sleep I've had in a long time," said Naruto, happy to find that his bed had practically been occupied by himself and himself only. It wasn't so much that he didn't like waking up to find that he was surrounded by members of the opposite gender but for once his sleep had been uninterrupted by people either tossing in their sleep or going to the bathroom at all hours of the morning.

"That's nice to hear," said Temari as she rocked back and forth from the balls of her feet to her heels. "Shall we be on our way?"

"Why not," said Naruto as he took the hand that Temari offered towards him. With a smile upon both their faces, the two of them began heading towards their destination as three heads bobbed around the corner to make sure nothing was going on between the two blondes that could put a deficit in their relationship with Naruto.

"You sure we should be doing this?" asked Kin as she pulled her head back in order to not be seen on the off chance that Naruto turned around completely.

"It's nothing but a little recon mission," said Sakura. "It's not like we've got anything better to do."

Tenten remained silent at that, having only joined with the other two girls as the rest of her team would be with Tsunade as the medical professional briefed them on just what would be needed for Lee's operation. Despite knowing that it was a long shot she had faith in Lee, undoubtedly the boy would survive as he hadn't fully unlocked the potential of his youth, as their sensei would say.

"But still..."

"But nothing," said Sakura as she grabbed Kin by the wrist. "We're doing this as a team."

"Is that just so that if one of us get caught the blame gets shared equally?" asked Tenten deciding to voice her opinion.

"As if they're going to catch us," said Sakura equally. "C'mon they're getting away."

As the three girls moved to catch up with the two blonds, they were unaware of the conversation going on between them. "You know we're being followed," said Temari as she walked by Naruto's side.

"Yep."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"Nope."

"Really?"

"Well I guess I could pull a good old fashioned prank on them, it's been years since I've done anything like it but I think I've still got it in me," said Naruto. "What colour do you reckon would look good on the girls?"

Temari lifted a finger to her chin, knowing that the minor interaction would cause those following to wonder just what she was thinking about. "I think they'd look good in green," she said absentmindedly.

"Green it is then," said Naruto as he grabbed Temari's wrist and pulled her into the alleyway they were just passing which startled the older girl slightly. Behind them the three girls tailing couldn't help but gasp in shock before giving chase. Turning to face the alleyway they were just able to see the backs of the two blondes as they turned around a corner.

"Hurry," shouted Sakura as she, Tenten and Kin took off unaware that they were following clones and the real Temari and Naruto were currently standing upon the rooftop watching them.

"It's like a game of cat and mouse isn't it," said Naruto as he summoned several more clones. Without a word they all moved away and began to prepare for the big finale. "Let's head back down into the street, we've only got a minute before the entertainment begins."

"I'm starting to like hanging out with you more and more," said Temari as she and Naruto dropped down onto the road beneath them.

"People generally get that impression around me, well those who want to hang out with me that is," said Naruto.

"Don't tell me that people try and avoid you," said Temari.

"They did for a long time, I did my best to simply look past it," said Naruto as he walked towards their destination. "Despite the odds I made friends when I was a ninja and even though I retired from that the friendship still remains."

"I'm going to need to work on that friend thing when I get back home," said Temari. "Really sick of people treating me above them because I was the Kazekage's daughter; I guess it's why I like it here where people treat me like everybody else."

"Even so, I'll treat you like you're special," said Naruto which caused a minor blush to fall upon Temari's face at the compliment. She was stopped however as Naruto held out his hand and blocked her path. "And three, two, one."

At the end of his countdown a giant plume of white smoke burst from the alleyway in front of them before three figures stepped out coughing vigorously completely unaware of their change in appearance. As the smoke cleared and their airways were clear, Kin, Sakura and Tenten looked at Temari and Naruto standing before them while the kunoichi from Suna was doing her best to hold in her laughter. Unsure as to what was so funny, the three Konoha shinobi looked at one another.

Their reactions were priceless.

Naruto joined in with the laughter as the three Genin ran for the hills, completely shocked by the fact that their clothes, skin and even their hair was so green that even Gai's jumpsuit looked pale in comparison. "That should keep them away for a while," said Naruto happy with a job well done.

"I'm actually curious now as to why you had the equipment necessary on hand to get rid of them," said Temari wondering why Naruto kept green paint in a seal on his person.

"When you've got rowdy customers who refuse to leave, sometimes you have to use unconventional methods to get rid of them," explained Naruto. "For most of the shinobi, the fear of being in a bright green spandex outfit is enough to scare them; I just play on those fears."

"Clever, anyways, shall we continue on our way to breakfast?"

"I suppose we shall," said Naruto as he allowed Temari to lead the way.

...

Sasuke flipped out of the way of Shizune's oncoming punch, her fist missing his face by the barest of margins before he charged at Tsunade's apprentice thinking he had finally gotten an upper hand against the vastly superior opponent. His efforts were all for not however as Shizune leant backwards and allowed for Sasuke's attack to fly effortlessly over her form before she sprung back upwards and dealt two quick blows to his open ribs. Shizune had not put as much strength into the attack as she could have knowing full well that this was a training exercise more than anything else, that didn't mean however that the blows didn't hurt.

Bouncing off the ground and into a crouching position, Sasuke grit his teeth in anger as he clutched at his injured ribs. The attacks had stung and would likely bruise but he knew full well that if Shizune had wanted she could have broken his ribs with little to no effort. It wasn't so much that he was angry at her strength, he was angry at his own weakness.

"Calm down," said Shizune as she pointed at Sasuke's hand. Sasuke blinked a couple of times in confusion as he looked at his appendage to find that the black markings of Orochimaru's seal had spread across half of his body without him even feeling it. Concentrating, he watched the cursed pattern glow before retreating back to where it had come. Once he was certain that he had forced the seal back into the bite mark he exhaled loudly as he got to his feet.

"Did something happen yesterday?" asked Shizune as she closed the distance between them. "I'm just noticing small mistakes you're making that you haven't shown the last couple of days."

Sasuke grit his teeth at that knowing full well that he couldn't tell Shizune about the fact that two high ranking criminals had merely strolled into Konoha without anybody noticing, word of that spreading would cause mass panic. "Just some nightmares last night," he lied.

"Well you want to talk about it, sometimes discussing things like this may help calm the patient down," said Shizune.

Sasuke looked at her and her trusting smile and knew full well that he could wheedle some manor of truth into his statement. "I woke up in a cold sweat," he said as if trying to remember from the previous night. "I'd been standing alone in the darkness and all I see is Itachi. All I feel is anger and hatred and as much as I want to strike out at him I'm held back, by Naruto of all people. All he keeps repeating is 'one day.' I'm trying to make heads or tails of this but for the life of me I can't figure it out."

"I think you're trying to over think the scenario," said Shizune. "Itachi, from what I've heard, is someone who could potentially take on a Kage head on and the two of them would fight on equal ground. The aggressive emotions are natural because of what he has done and Naruto holding you back can be seen as your reason taking form and preventing you from doing anything stupid."

"What am I meant to do though if he just suddenly appears? If I'm out on a mission and by some chance of rotten luck I bump into him, I know my reaction straight away is going to be to confront him," said Sasuke knowing full well that this scenario had played out the previous evening.

"I can see where you're coming from," said Shizune. "You need to get better control of your emotions because if you made any move on Itachi chances are that you'd end up dead, the strength between the two of you is just that great at the moment."

"At the moment?" repeated Sasuke.

"It may not have been as obvious to you since I've been targeting your weaknesses over the past few days but you are getting stronger," explained Shizune. "Not only physically but mentally, a combination of both is always necessary to take out somebody stronger than yourself. All you need to do is continue your training in such a way that when you eventually do confront Itachi you will be able to do so on a level playing field."

"So you're not telling me to give up on my quest?" said Sasuke, picking up on the fact that nearly everybody else who had confronted him about this topic had told him to give up.

"Temporarily, but defeating Itachi is your drive and because of this you will continue to grow stronger. What you need to work out though is what you're going to do afterwards, a long term plan that you may need to start upon now," said Shizune.

Sasuke paused at that and he couldn't help but ponder just what he would do after he had avenged his clan. He had the casino but he didn't want to live his life like he wanted to be the richest person on the planet, he was nowhere near _that_ snobbish. If he was strong enough to best Itachi then Hokage was a potential option but that was possibly thinking decades down the track, a little too long term thinking.

"There's the restoration of my clan," said Sasuke.

"Is this something you can start working on before you avenge your clan?" asked Shizune rhetorically. "While the casino is keeping you occupied while you're not training at the moment you need social activity to prevent yourself from letting your hatred for Itachi consume you. Friendship is the best start."

"Thank you," said Sasuke.

"Cheers, I wasn't entirely sure if everything I said made sense," said Shizune as she rubbed the back of her head. "I think I may have tried to push too much onto you at once."

"It was enough," said Sasuke as he readied himself, naturally sinking into his patented battle stance. With a smile on her lips Shizune did the same and knew that Sasuke would be coming at her harder than he had ever done.

...

Kin, finally free of all the green on her person after what seemed like an eternity of rubbing at her skin and hair, marched down the street with one purpose in mind. Everybody around her could clearly see that this was a girl on a mission and anybody who got in her way would be dealt with accordingly. The crowds practically split for her less they suffer her wrath.

That aura came crashing however as she bypassed two Chūnin who were having a discussion and she managed to pick up a single line on the way past.

"You hear about that foul mouthed, red haired chick in prison?"

Her aggressive march became slower and slower until she crawled to a stop. She turned her head to try and spot the people she had unintentionally eavesdropped on but couldn't see them among the crowd. It didn't matter though; there was only one person that sprang to mind that fit that description.

With a new destination in mind, Kin leaped onto the rooftops in order to get there quicker, all thoughts of vengeance having been erased from her mind.

...

"Alright kids, today I've brought a guest speaker in to tell you about the dangers of the street," announced Iruka as he held his hand towards the door and beckoned his guest to join him. "Kiba here graduated from the academy only six months ago and has already experienced more than some of our Chūnin."

"You make it sound like a bad thing," said Kiba brashly as Iruka took his seat. With Akamaru atop his head he looked out at the class of nine and ten year olds who would be joining him in three years time as shinobi of the Leaf. Inhaling deeply, he began his speech. "Kid's I'm here to talk to you today about drugs."

...

Kin stood awkwardly outside the prison, fidgeting on the spot wondering whether or not it was right to do this. Since having been kidnapped resulting in her transition into a Konoha kunoichi she had never been happier. Even the fiasco this morning was certain to bring entertainment if she brought it up in conversation later that evening. There was no anger or fear, only a little embarrassment which would soon be replaced with laughter.

So why was she here?

She had been so certain that she had put everything from Oto behind her. It turned out however that even if she thought she would be rid of Oto forever it would find a way of coming back to her. Kin knew that inside this building there was the one person that had actually looked out for her when she was first training to be a shinobi. Even though it had been for a little while, the fiery red haired kunoichi inside was the closest thing she ever had to a sister.

Did she really want to bring her two lives into one however?

Steeling her resolve, Kin stepped forward and into the building. As she went through all of the procedures necessary to see a prisoner, she could not stop thinking about whether this was the right thing to do? What was she meant to say? _Hey it's great having changed sides, I went out for a walk today with a couple of friends without the fear of being sent on a suicidal mission or killed on the street, how was your day?_

"Kin, it can't fucking be you can it," said Tayuya as she looked at the raven haired girl. Kin blinked a couple of times as she finally realised that she had reached her destination, having followed the guard while completely lost in thought. "Considering the wolf whistles I heard I guessed it had to be someone fucking hot but I can say I wasn't expecting you."

Yep, definitely lost in thought.

"Yea, I guess it would be a bit of a shock," said Kin nervously.

"So how'd you manage to ship countries, don't remember you having a Leaf headband," said Tayuya as she spotted the most obvious difference with her friend. "Who'd you have to shag in order to get a pardon after the invasion?"

"I umm, never partook in the invasion," said Kin which caused her to receive a curious look telling her to continue. "Well I fought but I fought for Konoha."

"How'd you manage not to get killed then?" said Tayuya asking a pretty obvious question. "Oto was instructed to kill everyone and since you wouldn't have been wearing a headband you would have been mistaken for a invader by the Konoha forces."

"I was kind of fighting alongside a Sannin," said Kin slowly.

"I don't fucking believe it, you got fucking Jiraiya to babysit you during the invasion. Guess that's one way to keep you safe," said Tayuya with a twisted chuckle. "Take it with him looking over your shoulder you're pretty much guaranteed a transition from an enemy village."

"Well how did you get caught? I take it from the giant barrier I saw on top of the stadium that you had to have been a part of that," said Kin.

"Got caught in a genjutsu made by some blond haired faggot of a kid," said Tayuya with a scoff. "Brat then has the nerve to showing his fucking face here and get this. I offer him sex and he fucking turns it down! What kind of teenager turns down free fucking sex?" Tayuya looked at Kin to see her face twist slightly and she shifted on the spot which caused a few cogs to tick within Tayuya's head. "You know who I'm talking about don't you?"

"Yea...he was the one who helped me originally," said Kin. "I was out one night and he praised me and I just don't know, it made me feel...amazing."

"So that's why he wouldn't fuck me," said Tayuya which only caused Kin to look at her inquisitively. "Well if you're there to cater to his every whim and suck on his pretty little cock whenever he wants it's no wonder why he refused me."

"Well..."

"Don't tell me you haven't had sex with him yet?"

"I may have...raped him?" said Kin with the last part sounding like a question more than anything else. Tayuya blinked a couple of times as she let this information sink in before bursting into laughter which only caused Kin to red in the face. "It's not funny!"

"No it's hilarious," said Tayuya in between laughs. Calming down and taking some deep breaths, the red haired woman looked Kin in the eye with a smile still on his face. "I can tell you have feelings for him, that much is for certain but let me tell you, if the two of you ever have sex on a level playing field, even if he can only do half the shit he does with that genjutsu of his, you're going to have your mind fucking blown."

"Alright, time's up Kin," said the ANBU standing on guard.

"You're just upset we're not talking about your cock aren't you," taunted Tayuya. "Next time you come visit you better tell me how good having consensual sex is like."

Kin said nothing as she was led away with the red still upon her cheeks. Needless to say this had not been how she had thought this conversation would have panned out. That being said she had picked up one piece of information that seemed a little odd and she would have to ask Naruto later about this genjutsu of his.

...

"Cheers for that Kiba," said Iruka as he shook his former students hand.

"Anytime sensei," said Kiba.

"Just one question though."

"Yes?" said Kiba wondering what Iruka wanted from him.

"Do you think it was okay to bring Shino in and describe him as a suspicious person to be avoided?" asked Iruka as he turned towards his guest speaker's fellow Genin who had been brought in by the Inuzuka clan member.

"It is quite alright sensei," said Shino. "In three years time when we join on the battlefield they won't even remember my face."

This comment however caused the same thought to pop into both Iruka and Kiba's minds.

'_I don't even know what his face looks like.'_

...

Battered and bruised, Sasuke made his way through the all too familiar setting as he headed towards the Lucky Shuriken to open up for the day. Shizune had explained to him that it would be a while before Tsunade would come down to gamble which meant he could get some paperwork done before having to deal with the biggest gambler in Konoha coming to visit.

He was stopped on his walk however as he found his business partner backing up against a wall with both Tenten and Sakura glaring down at him with fire in their eyes. Wisely, he turned his head from the scene knowing better than to jump into the fray.

He also wasn't sure whether or not he'd be able to prevent himself from laughing about the colour of Sakura's hair.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**First off, sorry about the delay. Kinda lost my way with this story and had no real idea where I wanted to take it. I looked at the draft of my original plan and found out I had deviated from that plan somewhere in between chapters 13-17.**

**Secondly, my updates aren't going to be that frequent as snow has fallen and I'll be spending most hours that I'm not working up the mountain having fun. Sorry, but I stayed in this country a year for the snow season so I'm not going to give up that opportunity anytime soon.**

**LolaTheSa: You say that despite his strength it's wrong for him to fear the Akatsuki. I think it's the other way round and that because he knows of his strength he is wise to still fear those who want to hunt him down.**

'**Til next time**

**Peace**


	39. A Brewing Pot

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**...**

"So you had an eventful morning it seems," said Yugao as she sliced away at the vegetables in front of her.

"Breakfast was nice and those who wanted to ruin it got punished accordingly," said Naruto as he washed some dishes that had been overlooked the previous night, his clones having been too lazy to do the chores. "So why are you here before I was, come looking for a full time job or something?"

"Well it's a change of scenery, being sent out on assassination missions every fortnight does get a little dull," mused Yugao. "See if I can get an extension on my leave and just relax for a while."

"You haven't done a weekend shift yet, you have no idea how hard this job could be," said Naruto.

"Is that when you pump out an extra half dozen clones to help with the extra customers?" asked Yugao to which she received no response. "That's what I thought. About that full time job thing though, when I came in before there was a girl standing outside looking for a job. She gave me her resume and told me to give it to you."

"Wow, someone actually wants to work here?" said Naruto, a bit surprised as nobody had actually ever wanted to work alongside him as a full time employee.

"It's over there," said Yugao with a nod of the head towards a desk. Shaking his hands of excess water, Naruto walked over to the desk and picked up the application. HIs cheery demeanour immediately came crashing down however as he saw the name of the applicant and it took all of his willpower not to throw the paper in the bin or light it on fire right there and then. "Is everything alright?"

"Yea...it's fine," said Naruto as he put the paper back on the desk. "I'm just going to head outside for a bit and get some fresh air."

Yugao said nothing as she watched her former teammate step out of the kitchen and out of the building in general. Placing her knife down, Yugao walked over to the desk and picked up the paper and looked at the name. She didn't know who this Ayame girl was but for them to have had this effect on the ever friendly blond meant that they had done something horrible to the boy. Deciding not to poke her nose any further knowing that Naruto wouldn't appreciate it, Yugao put the resume down and returned to her duties hoping that the teenager would be back at his peak quickly and not let this incident keep him down.

...

For Gai, today was a day far more glorious than any in recent times. He had remained rooted to the spot during the operation which would either give his student the ability to fight as a shinobi once more or kill him. The odds were steep, a fifty fifty chance at best. Yet his student had been keen for the operation to proceed, his dreams driving him forward.

Hours passed nerve wracking slowly; Gai had nearly worn a trench in the hospital from all his pacing up and down the corridors. Even though the operation had originally been successful there still had been no guarantee the Lee would survive. Yet finally, finally after what seemed like an eternity he was given good news from Tsunade. Only her brute strength had been able to prevent him from crushing Lee with a hug, Tsunade clearly explaining that the Genin needed to rest for a day or two before he would be permitted to leave.

Having heard this news, Gai had rushed out of the hospital, intending on sharing the great news with everyone. He was pulled to an abrupt halt however as he looked at the ramen chef that all shinobi seemed to love. Over the past few years it had been common to find the child with a beaming smile upon his face, this time however there was a sombre look that Gai couldn't help but find disturbing.

"Naruto," he practically shouted, gaining the teenager's attentions. "Upon this fine day what has dampened your flames of youth?"

Naruto looked up at the spandex clad ninja before a spark of hope ignited in his eyes, something which Gai quickly picked up on. "You want to help me get them burning again?" he asked innocently.

Gai seemingly exploded in joy at those words, a white smile spreading across his face. "YOSH!" he shouted causing nearby people to look over in confusion to what was going on. "How do you wish to fan your flames of youth? A contest of speed, strength or would you rather join me in several hundred laps around Konoha?"

"I want to fight you," said Naruto calmly, something which brought Gai straight back down to Earth. Even those who had been listening in on what the blond teenager had said, for those who knew of his past they were definitely intrigued by why Naruto was asking such a question. Let it never be said however that Gai was one to step down from a challenge, and even if he didn't know the boys motivations now during the spar he could learn just that.

"Very well young chef, let us pit our flames of youth against one another upon the battlefield, a spectacle for the ages," shouted Gai trying not to give away any suspicions that he may be fighting for ulterior motives.

"Lead the way," said Naruto with a wave of the hand before Gai leaped away in a blur, Naruto following in similar fashion a heartbeat later. Unfortunately, if Naruto had wanted this bout to be a private one however he would be in for an unpleasant surprise.

...

"Thank you for telling me about my hair," said Sakura as she and Kin walked along the street.

"For the fifteenth time, I'll take your thanks," said Kin having slowly gotten annoyed by the amount of times that Sakura had expressed her gratitude. She for one couldn't really see how pink was better than green anyways but she knew that people had their preferences.

"I mean it though, it's just..." started Sakura before she was quickly cut off by Tenten who burst in on the scene seemingly from nowhere.

"You two come quickly!" she exclaimed between panted breaths.

"Why, what's wrong?" asked Kin.

"There's a fight going on, Naruto and Gai-sensei are duelling," said Tenten with a look of excitement upon her face. Before either of the other two had a chance to ask any more questions, Tenten leaped on top of a nearby rooftop and took off, forcing both Kin and Sakura to follow her if either of them wanted to witness what was about to unfold.

...

For any shinobi who hadn't been on a mission at that given time, it was safe to say that they could be found circling a training ground as they watched the fight with baited breath. Many had heard the stories of how Naruto had tackled the first Hokage during the invasion and they now truly wanted to see what the blond haired teenager was capable of. For the Genin and even a handful of Chūnin however they could barely see anything other than two blurs flashing around the battlefield which collided every once in a while, a shockwave tearing across the battlefield with enough force to ruffle the clothing of those standing nearby.

For the more experienced shinobi however they were able to see what the blurs actually were and many were of them were on standby on the off chance that something happened that was unexpected to say the least. Gai had activated one of his inner gates, whether or not it was the first or second it was hard to tell. His opponent however was able to keep up with the speed that the Jonin was displaying, the two entities colliding against one another with brute force alone. Naruto was only able to keep up with Gai's insane speed for one reason only and with three tails of the Kyuubi's chakra flowing behind him it was understandable as to why everybody who could see the bout was worried. The small gambling den in the woods that the ANBU had originally put up at the start of the bout had long since been abandoned, this could potentially turn into a much more pressing matter than making a small bit of coin.

"Can you see anything that's going on?" asked Kiba to Shino, both of them having followed the crowd to see the commotion.

"All I know is that my insects won't go anywhere near the fray," said Shino, his colony holed up inside of him for the foreseeable future. "They won't even go interact with my father's colony."

"So they're just as scared as Akamaru," said Kiba as he patted the top of the puppies head trying to comfort him. "I heard that Naruto is one of the ones fighting here but this is nothing like when he took us on."

"Agreed," said Shino, not needing to say anything else at this stage. It was clear that Naruto had been holding back against them when they had fought all those weeks ago. It was clear however that Naruto was in a league not only were they nowhere near but apparently not even aware of.

Standing nearby with his arms crossed across his chest, Sasuke could only watch on with his Sharingan activated. While he was still incredibly annoyed by the fact that Naruto had denied him his chance to get revenge on his clan the previous night, he was still replaying his business partner's words over and over in his mind. While at first he had thought them as merely words to calm him down, he was witnessing something much more incredible. Undoubtedly Naruto had strength far greater than he currently had, but since the blond had been scared to take on Itachi then he couldn't help but wonder just what level of strength his brother was on.

Again, Naruto's words replayed in his mind on how Itachi had gained his strength in Konoha and how he would do the same. In front of him was an example of just what training within the walls of the Hidden Leaf could do. Sasuke ground his teeth against one another in frustration; this was the level that training within Konoha would be able to give him; he needed something greater though in order to avenge his clan and kill his brother.

As if responding to his thought, twisted words resonated from the seal upon his neck, whispering venomous taunts into his mind. Shaking his head from side to side he tried to clear his thoughts before turning around and walking away from the battlefield having seen enough.

"Is he in control?" asked Kakashi to Jiraiya, the former ANBU captain having lifted up his headband in order to watch the fight properly.

"Yes," said Jiraiya plainly. "He's able to control the amount of output at the moment; chances are he's wondering whether or not he could have done more to help sensei. More than anything though, he probably needed to vent out some frustration."

"Perhaps," said Kakashi wondering if that was truly the reason behind this battle. It had been a long time since he and Naruto had fought against one another and the last time he had done so had been when the up and coming chef had had a customer throw the food he had prepared back in his face. The fight that had ensued was a way to get stress out of Naruto's system but it hadn't been anything on this scale. "Don't you think he's gone a bit far though, considering everyone is watching and all?"

"All depends on what he's venting," said Jiraiya. "Sometimes it's healthy just to let it all out."

"In this fashion though?" asked Kakashi knowing that with all of the Genin nearby that Naruto would have a lot of explaining to do to the younger generation. To this however the white haired Sannin could only shrug his shoulders, since he didn't know what was going through Naruto's mind he couldn't viably make a decision on his behalf.

The crowd who was able to see the fight in its entirety watched with a mixture of shock and awe as Gai lunged forward, gunning for Naruto's face. As predicted, Naruto went to block the attack but in doing so Gai twisted his body in such a way that his attack was no longer targeting the face but rather the torso. A sickening crack resonated through the air as ribs became broken before Naruto's body bounced across the training field, kicking up a cloud of dust as he did so.

Skidding to a stop, Naruto held his torso before he coughed out a pool of blood that painted the grass red. He was given no reprieve however as Gai burst forward punched the top of Naruto's head, driving the boy's face into the ground with enough force to cause a crater to form.

"NARUTO!" shouted several of the girls from the sidelines in shock of the seemingly overkill attack, many of them hoping that the teenager in front of them would burst into a puff of smoke revealing themselves to be a shadow clone. Seconds ticked by however and Naruto remained on the ground. For a few however with keen enough eyes they could start to see a fourth tail start to emerge.

Kakashi wanted nothing more than to leap onto the battlefield and put a stop to this before anything else happened but Jiraiya held him back, the man's eyes squinting at the display in front of him. The blond finally moved somewhat and slammed his fist into the ground despite his face still being stuck within the dirt.

"Fight it Naruto," said Gai encouragingly, watching down on the blond as he did his best to wrestle back some manner of control. Ever so slowly, the fourth tail shrunk in size before vanishing to whence it once came before Naruto, still in his three tailed form, breathed out in exhaustion as perspiration poured down his face. "Well done Naruto."

"I almost had it," said Naruto between gasping breaths.

"Perhaps if we had done this in a more reclusive area we would have been able to push your limits further," said Gai as he took a seat next to Naruto, deactivating the gates as he did now that the battle was over. Likewise, Naruto allowed the three tailed cloak surrounding him to be dispersed leaving only him in his tattered clothes as the cuts and bruises he had sustained during the battle began to heal around him.

"Please, every time I so much as think of having a friendly fight the entire shinobi community puts their day on hold just to watch," said Naruto. "I remember it was similar back in the day when you and Kakashi's fights were actually fights instead of stupid contests."

"I'll have you know that I am currently in a winning position in those competitions," declared Gai proudly as his eyes scanned the horizons. "It would seem as if now that our duel is over and the threat of you losing control has passed everyone is keen to return to their prior activities."

"A few will stay," said Naruto knowing full well that there were going to be some questions thrown in his face very shortly.

"Indeed," said Gai as he pushed himself to his feet. "Once Lee has left the hospital, may I ask that you and he have a friendly spar in order to bring him back up to scratch; you know he will only tackle the strongest of opponents in order to fan his flames of youth."

"Just be sure to keep him out of the special ramen stocks," said Naruto with a chuckle as he looked an outstretched hand that Gai offered for him. With a small smile on his lips he took the offered appendage and was hoisted to his feet. "Damn I needed that, stretched the muscles and cleared the head."

"I sensed that something was plaguing your mind during the opening minutes of the bout, is there something that I can help you with in this regard?" asked Gai wanting to know if he could be of assistance.

"No, I know what I need to do with that now," said Naruto. "However, I am going to need you to come by the ramen store tonight an hour after closing time. Bring Lee and Neji; I'll be inviting a few other people as well."

"Should I bring Tenten?" asked Gai wondering why his youthful kunoichi had been left off of Naruto's list of guests.

"No, I fear that what I have planned may kill her, the less people who know about it the better."

Gai said nothing to that as his features narrowed wondering what serious topics would be discussed that night within the ramen stand. "Until tonight," he finally said before vanishing leaving Naruto alone as nearly every Genin that Naruto had grown to know charged towards him, some with looks of worry, others with looks of concern while others were utterly furious (Tenten in particular). Naruto knew one thing however; this was going to be a long conversation.

As the last of the crowds dispersed, Gai appeared next to where Jiraiya and Kakashi stood, the two of them having not moved from their positions the entire time. "How is he?" asked Kakashi.

"Something's troubling him, what this is I cannot tell," said Gai. "I feel as if we shall be told within the foreseeable future though."

"You feel?" said Jiraiya lifting an eyebrow.

"There was a look in his eye, one more calculating than I have seen in a long time," explained Gai. "Naruto is setting a plan in motion and it will only be a matter of time before we are all swept along in the waves that he creates. I feared that his time as a chef had set his flames of youth to simmer as oppose to burning brightly but now I see that they have merely been hiding in the shadow that they cast this entire time."

Kakashi and Jiraiya's eyes sharpened at those words as they turned their attention towards the battlefield to see Naruto playfully get hit on top of the head by Tenten, her lip movements showing that she was yelling at the blond despite them not being able to hear anything from their distance. Needless to say, all three of the elite shinobi knew that something was going to go down, something that would likely shake Konoha to its core.

...

Ayame worked away diligently at the job that her father had assigned her in the back of the stand but she paid it little to no attention, her mind far away on a distant plain at that moment. Looking back on it, she wasn't entirely sure why she had sent in her resume to Naruto's business. In the heat of the moment she assumed that this was her way of trying to rekindle the friendship the two of them had had before she had been caught spying on him. While she had hoped that he would have forgiven her under the pretence that it was a mission from the Hokage she knew that open wounds wouldn't be so easily closed.

"Ayame, we've got a customer," said her father from the front of the stand. "They want to see you."

Putting down her work utensils, Ayame dusted herself off on her apron before washing her hands clean of any remaining filth. Making her way to the front of the stand she paused in her step as she looked at the familiar locks of blond hair that had plagued her thoughts during restless nights. "Naruto," she said so softly that nobody was able to hear the word that escaped her lips.

Teuchi, seeing the obvious discomfort in the stand, took this opportunity to flee into the safety that the back of the ramen stand provided. Even though he had treated Naruto much like his son for a good portion of years gone by, that by any means didn't mean that he wanted to be anywhere near this confrontation. The Sandaime had explained the situation personally and he could only imagine the amount of hurt that the boy had felt by the betrayal. As seconds ticked by like minutes he expected to hear the sound of breaking plates or of one his bar stools to be reduced to nothing more than a pile of splinters but from the lack of destruction he heard he could only figure that the conversation was a civil one, if that was even possible.

After what seemed like an eternity, his daughter joined him in the storage area, a look of relief upon her face. "Well?" he asked, not quite knowing what to say at that point.

"I'm sorry dad," she said softly, painful emotion riddled within her voice. "You're going to have to find a new apprentice."

...

Naruto walked through the dimly lit streets of Konoha, making his way through the back alleys as if it were second nature. It had taken a while to explain to the Genin of the village that the giant fox they had thought had been killed was actually living deep inside of him. Thankfully they hadn't taken it as badly as he feared, Shikamaru even stating that he had figured it out some time earlier. After a plethora of questions that had rooted him in place for the better part of an hour he was finally able to get some space to go put his plan into action.

With Itachi and Kisame having so casually invaded the city he knew that his time in hiding was over and that a counter plan was going to be needed. Too many people had died for him already, the number of people which would perish if war found its way to Konoha now of all times would be astronomical.

That would not happen.

As his shack came into sight, his gaze was also greeted by some drunkard who was standing at the corner of his building urinating on the wall. As tempting as it was to cut the man's penis off as retribution, Naruto remained calm and as he closed the distance between them merely backhanded the gentleman with enough force to send him careening into the wall and into an unconscious bliss. Moving on as if nothing had happened, Naruto made sure to avoid the small puddle of urine that remained in the dirt before making his way to the front door.

As expected, the wooden object gave way to his push meaning that somebody was already inside. The building was silent however and as he made his way to the central area he turned on the light revealing all of those that he had invited to this gathering, some not appreciative about having had to wait a few extra minutes while others were confused as to why some other people had been invited at all. Naruto, scanning the room to see that everybody invited was present, allowed a smile to cross his lips.

"Welcome."

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Peace**


End file.
